


Footsteps in Snow

by raug_moss



Series: Cat & Kara: The New Adventures of Supergirl [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Romance, Time Travel, multi-part series, supercat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-06-09
Packaged: 2018-06-05 20:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6722377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raug_moss/pseuds/raug_moss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After yet another battle with Non, Kara is accidentally sent back in time and encounters a young Cat Grant working her way up the corporate ladder. If Kara thought she had a crush on her boss before, meeting her flirtatious younger self has Supergirl falling faster than any bomb ever could.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In my tomorrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first fic in this particular fandom. After reading some amazing stories and seeing beautiful illustrations, I just had to give it a shot. This story is set somewhere in Season 1 before the whole Adam fiasco.

“God, it’s like kicking a puppy,” Cat muttered under her breath and turned back around. Her heels clicked against the pavement as she hurried down the sidewalk toward the slumped form of the young blonde sitting on the steps.

“Come on then, let’s get you inside.”

Large sad eyes looked up at her from a perfectly beautiful face and Cat had trouble keeping the mask of thinly-veiled annoyance fixed on her features.

“No really, I’m okay, I wouldn’t want to –“

Cat rolled her eyes and interrupted her. “We’re both wasting time, and if there is one thing I do not have right now, it is time, so get up and stop pretending you’re some kind of street urchin trying to sell matchsticks.”

Kara immediately jumped to her feet at the command and Cat raised an inquisitive eyebrow. Interesting.

She started walking without another glance in the other woman’s direction and soon enough she heard footsteps catching up to her. The shoes on Kara’s feet were obviously outdated but they looked newly purchased. Who in the world dressed like a fifties housewife in this day and age? Cat rolled her eyes again, something she felt would become a habit if she didn’t stop soon. Or kept different company.

Her apartment was only two blocks away so she silently hurried down the sidewalk, glancing at her watch repeatedly. She was going to be late for her appointment with the head of the City Cleaning Department, but then again he wasn’t a terribly interesting or busy man, so it shouldn’t turn out to be a big problem. Despite the fact that she’d been given the most yawn-inducing topic anyone could think of, she would make it a smashing success, if it was the last thing she did.

But judging by the way her day was going, it may as well be. She glanced over at the other woman beside her who quickly averted her eyes as if she’d been staring. Cat smothered a small smirk and rounded the corner. Almost there.

One more left turn and a small flight of stairs took her to the entrance of her apartment building. Not exactly prime estate, but she would make do, just as she always had. She fished her keys out of her pocket and unlocked the door. A small noise from her companion made her pause and she narrowed her eyes. “What? If you’ve got something to say, say it, I don’t speak puppy.”

Kara opened her mouth a few times, as if trying to decide what her next words should be. “You… you live here?”

“No, I just like to collect keys from random buildings in Metropolis… of course, I live here.”

Kara hunched her shoulders and mouthed something like an apology.

They quickly made their way down the corridor, Cat checking her mailbox as she was walking by, and ascended the stairs to the second floor. Her apartment wasn’t exactly huge, but by Metropolis standards it was fairly nice. Not that she couldn’t afford anything bigger, or nicer, but she would rather drop dead than ask her mother for money.

Cat tossed her coat and bag onto the small table in the living room and glanced over her shoulder to see Kara slowly tiptoeing into the apartment.

“I’d say make yourself at home, but I would prefer it if you didn’t leave any traces at all. My bedroom is off limits, of course, but you may use the kitchen, bathroom and such. If you use something up, replace it.”

Kara was nodding along to her words, blue eyes darting from one corner of her apartment to the next.

It had a semi-open living room with a couch, television, armchair – the usual, and an adjoining kitchen with a breakfast bar. Her bedroom was off to the right and the guest room was next to it.

Right now it was her home office, but she could remove a few things for a little while until her unexpected houseguest left.

“The DMV is only a few blocks from here. Ask for Matthew and tell him I sent you, he owes me. That way you can start tomorrow without having to wait for your replacement documents to come in.”

Cat was whirling around the apartment while she spoke, grabbing a few things here and there, putting them in her purse and quickly changing her shoes and blazer. After a brief look in the mirror she was ready to leave. “I’ll see you tonight, try not to break anything.”

She was about to head out the door when a warm hand against her arm stopped her. She froze in place for a second and slowly looked down at slender fingers curled around her biceps before trailing her eyes up to look at Kara, who immediately blushed and let go.

“I… thank you, for everything. I wouldn’t have known what to do without you.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s true, but now you owe me,” Cat replied with a raise of her eyebrows before she whipped around and finally strode out of her apartment, slamming the door in her wake.

-S-S-S-

_\- 24 Hours Earlier -_

The last thing she remembered seeing was Non’s smiling face as he pulled the lever. Somewhere in the distance Alex was calling her name, but the white light that engulfed her drowned out every sound, every miniscule movement of air around her. It was as if she was floating in blinding nothingness.

Was this what death felt like?

Kara closed her eyes, welcoming the darkness, and focused on the faces of her family and friends flashing through her head, ending with the disapproving scowl of one Cat Grant. She would be so pissed if those layouts weren’t on her desk tomorrow morning.

Suddenly everything seemed to be rushing again, the air around her became a turbulent whirlwind and when Kara opened her eyes she was surrounded by colors and shapes moving too fast for her to pin down. It was making her nauseous and she reached up to clamp a hand over her mouth.

It felt like the constant movement would never stop when she hit something solid with her shoulder. It wasn’t a terribly painful sensation but she still groaned at the impact because everything had stopped around her while her head was still whirling.

Opening and closing her eyes rapidly brought her some sense of her position and she realized that she was on the ground, one side of her body cold and wet.

Gasping lightly Kara drew much-needed air into her lungs and pushed herself into a sitting position. The world was still tilting on its axis around her but she was eventually able to figure out that she was in some dark alley, right next to a smelly dumpster, the ground was wet and the air was charged as if a thunder storm had just passed by. It was night, so at least half a day must’ve gone by since her fight with Non.

Her entire body felt sluggish, almost as if she was moving in slow-motion but the rapid pounding of her heart forced her to her feet. Looking down at herself she realized that she was still in her Supergirl suit. What had Non done to her?

She shook her arms briefly, trying to rid herself of the last tremors still passing through her body before she launched herself into the air. The cold wind felt good against her skin even though she was still struggling with flying in a straight line. Kara had to find Alex, she’d know what was wrong.

So her first stop was her apartment, just in case Alex was waiting there. She zipped between the darkened buildings, heading straight for the open window of her apartment, only to stop short when she saw lights in the living room. Her brow furrowed as she drifted closer and watched with growing horror how a family she’d never seen in her life was sitting in front of a small tube TV in her living room. Which didn’t look like her living room at all.

All of her stuff was gone and replaced with furniture she’d never seen before.

“What the…?”

The family didn’t appear threatening or like they didn’t belong. Maybe she had confused the story? Or even the building?

After flying up and down a few times Kara came to the conclusion that, no, she wasn’t wrong and, yes, this was definitely her building and her apartment. Just… not quite.

Okay, something was obviously off.

“Oh god, please no alternate universe stuff,” she mumbled.

Kara stretched her arm forward and took off in the direction of CatCo Plaza, since it was closer than the DEO base. Hopefully Winn and James had an idea what was going on.

Her thoughts where a complete mess as she gently landed on the roof of the building and she took a deep breath to calm herself before tilting her head just so, listening to the sounds from beneath tons of concrete.

She couldn’t make out Winn or James anywhere in the building.

S-S-S

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.”

Kara was pacing up and down the empty desert road, burying her hands in her hair.

No DEO, no Alex, no James and no Winn. The place where the headquarters of the DEO used be was nothing but a piece of dry, empty land somewhere in the middle of the desert.

What could’ve possibly happened here? How was she going to find out without any help? It was as if all of her family and friends had been erased from the face of this planet without a trace. Even trying to listen for their familiar voices for more than an hour had proven useless.

Kara’s heart immediately sped up as she gazed up to the stars. What if Non had managed to change this reality? Perhaps the electric waves from the machine the DEO had picked up had something to do with this? Another parasite?

She had to find out somehow. Kara took a few calming breaths, closing her eyes briefly to imagine Alex in her mind’s eye telling her to calm down and go about this rationally. If she’d learned one thing working for the DEO and for Cat Grant it was that she needed to remain level-headed before she charged into a situation.

She needed a plan, but first of all she needed information, so she took off again. The dust was whirling underneath her feet as she pushed her body into the air and quickly returned to the city.

The National City library was still open as she landed atop the building. Here she could easily find out if she was indeed trapped in an alternate reality without disturbing anyone else.

She was about to simply waltz into the library when she realized that she was still in her Supergirl outfit and didn’t have any clothes to change into, or her glasses. And since her apartment was currently otherwise occupied, she couldn’t just rush over there and grab a few things.

Kara bit her lip thoughtfully and narrowed her eyes. She normally didn’t condone stealing, not at all, but this was an emergency and she was only borrowing a few pieces for a couple of hours.

Within the blink of an eye she had jumped back into the air and zipped down to a dry-cleaner at the corner. Looking around, she squeezed the lock at the back door until it popped and slipped inside. The entire thing took less than half a minute until she was dressed in black pants, a blouse and cardigan. It would have to do for now.

She tied her hair back into its customary bun as she hurried across the street toward the library. Without her glasses she felt somehow naked, but there was nothing she could do to change that. Instead she straightened her shoulders and headed toward the main entrance of the building. She made her way inside and nodded toward the elderly librarian who seemed to be almost asleep behind the desk.

It would probably be for the best to start looking at important events to see what might have changed and if some things were still the same. She remembered glancing at today’s newspaper and seeing some report about Lord Technologies’ newest product.

She snatched a daily newspaper from one of the tables, noting that none of the headlines seemed to match up. Then her eyes swept across the date in the corner.

1990.

Kara gulped and sank down into a nearby chair that creaked quietly under her weight. Was this real? Had she traveled twenty-five years back in time?

It wasn’t completely insane, not since Barry had suddenly appeared from an alternate universe.

If it was really true, Alex would be just a baby and she had no idea if J’onn had already arrived on earth. Even so, he would still be a refugee trying to remain hidden while the real Hank Henshaw might have already started hunting down aliens.

There was only one way to go about this: she had to find Kal-El.

Kara slapped the newspaper onto the table and got up from the chair with determination but cringed when it scraped against the floor, making an obscenely loud noise in the otherwise quiet library. The elderly woman at the front desk whipped her head up and looked around for a few seconds before fixing a glare on Kara, who raised her hands in silent apology.

She left the library as quietly as she had entered. She wasn’t so sure she was up to this without her friends at CatCo and the DEO at her back. But if one thing was certain, then it was that Alex was doing her utmost from the other side – the future, Kara reminded herself – to bring her back. So even if she couldn’t solve this on her own, chances were pretty good that she didn’t have to.

Kara speed-walked into a nearby alley and, with a glance over her shoulder, propelled herself into the nightly sky once again, toward Metropolis.

She hoped that this would be over soon and she could return to her own time, because otherwise it would become very lonely very quickly without a friendly face in sight.

S-S-S

Kara straightened her shoulders and brushed her fingers across the soft material of her cardigan, scowling slightly at the reminder of her own criminal moment.

The building underneath her feet was bustling with activity and she’d listened to some news reports for a while until deciding that it was time for her to go in. She’d done this before, walking into the den of the lion, or in the case of Cat Grant, the lioness. She only had to pretend that she belonged and knew what she was doing. So long as no one became suspicious of her she was fairly certain that she could move through the building and even ask a few questions here and there.

She reached up to adjust her glasses but her fingers curled around nothing so she shook out her hands and moved her head around to loosen the tense muscles in her neck.

“Okay, I can do this.”

With straight shoulders and a self-assured gait, Kara made her way down the stairs into the bustling offices of the Daily Planet.

As she’d expected none of the other frazzled employees paid her any mind and she managed to walk past usually very inquisitive reporters without being spared a second glance.

She was about to search for her cousin when a friendly female voice stopped her. “Oh hello there, you must be new here?”

Kara turned around to find a short, rotund woman with blonde hair smiling brightly at her. “I’m Betsy. You’re looking for Mr. Tate, aren’t you?”

 “Uh… no, I mean, actually I was just about to…” Kara jerked her thumb in the other direction.

“Oh don’t be shy, dear, we’ve all been through it. Once you get to know Mr. Tate a little better he isn’t as scary.”

Betsy grabbed Kara’s arm with surprising strength and more or less dragged her past a few desks toward a brown door.

Betsy knocked briefly and opened the door without waiting for a reply. “Go on in, sweetheart, he won’t bite.”

With a little push against the small of her back, Kara basically stumbled into the office and jumped when the door was slammed shut. Her eyes quickly darted from the windows on one end of the room to the other side where a large mahogany bookshelf took up most of the space. It wasn’t like Cat’s office at all, instead of being open and sunny it felt stuffy and dark. The giant wooden desk and black leather chair behind it pretty much spoke for themselves.

The air smelled of cigarette smoke and the man, Mr. Tate apparently, in the leather chair was in the process of lighting another cigarette when his dark eyes looked up, slowly trailing from Kara’s shoes up to her face.

“My, aren’t you a pretty little thing?”

Kara couldn’t suppress the shudder of revulsion that ran through her body at the older man’s stare. He looked like a sleek loan shark from one of these old black and white movies Alex liked to watch. From the suit and tie right down to the gelled hair, he fit the mould perfectly.

“Why don’t you have a seat and tell me a bit about yourself.”

Not wanting to attract any more unnecessary attention, Kara slowly walked over to the chairs and sat down. She found herself looking up to be able to see Mr. Tate perched behind his desk.

“I…uhm… just moved into the city actually, and I’m not sure I should be here.”

Mr. Tate’s smile widened and there was some kind of happy glimmer in his beady little eyes. “Quite the opposite I think. What’s your name?”

“Kara Danvers,” she automatically answered, only cursing herself after the fact for giving her real name.

“I think you’ll fit right in Miss Danvers,” Mr. Tate replied and grinned. He got up from his chair and Kara immediately rose to her feet, not wanting him tower over her even more. He rounded his desk and reached out to shake her hand with both of his.

His grip as a too tight and too moist and Kara cringed silently, wishing for this to be over and done with.

“I’m sure you’ll be an asset to the company,” Mr. Tate drawled, his eyes once again wandering across her body and leaving the feeling of a very unwelcome phantom touch. He led her back to the door, his hands still holding onto her all the way, until he let go and opened the door to peer outside.

“I’m sure someone can show you around… oh, Cat come over here for a moment,” he called and a blonde woman turned around to face them as Kara emerged from the office.

Suddenly her heart stuttered in her chest and it was as if most of the oxygen had been sucked out of the air. Was this what a panic attack felt like? She’d never experienced anything like it before.

A moment later Cat Grant stood in front of her, but not the Cat Grant she saw almost every day in the office, no, this was Cat Grant at twenty-five years old.

Cat’s eyes were trained on Mr. Tate and she was clearly displeased by being summoned like that.

“Why don’t you show Miss Danvers around Cat, she just got into the city, I’m sure you gals have something to yap about.”

With that Mr. Tate cut his eyes one last time over at Kara and disappeared back into his office, leaving her standing in front of Cat.

She was used to that scowl being directed her way, but knowing that Cat had already been able to scare the living daylights out of someone with a single glare even at her age made Kara more uncomfortable than she could’ve possibly imagined.

The encounter with her apparently new boss was all but forgotten as she stared, speechless.

Cat was wearing a micro-skirt and blazer combination – not exactly something the CatCo founder would be proud of twenty-five years later, Kara was sure. The most fascinating thing, however, was probably her darker blonde hair falling around her shoulders without the customary curls.

“Alright Keira,” Cat said, drawing out her name on purpose and causing Kara to flush, “despite what you might think, I’m not some kind of secretary here to waste my time with Tate’s new playthings.”

Kara wanted to feel indignant because she clearly heard the insult, but the largest part of her brain was still trying to compute the fact that Cat Grant was standing right in front her, calling her with the same false name as if nothing had changed.

Cat raised an eyebrow at Kara’s continued silence. “You’re a little slow on the uptake, aren’t you? God, no wonder Tate hired you on the spot.”

“I’m not actually,” Kara managed to answer, “and I wasn’t really here for any job.”

“Whatever,” Cat answered with a dismissive roll of her eyes. She turned around and stalked over to one of the desks scattered all around the open office space and grabbed a stack of papers which she promptly thrust into Kara’s arms. “Make three copies of each document, think you can do that? It should keep you at least busy for a while. Chop chop.”

Kara still stood rooted to the spot, folders cradled in her arms, long after Cat had grabbed her coat from a nearby chair and exited the office without a backwards glance.

“Oh my god.”

She blinked several times and it slowly began to feel like she was returning from this bizarre out-of-body experience. She glanced down at the folders in her arms and sighed. What now? Taking orders from Cat Grant had become almost second nature, but this time she wasn’t actually here for a job.

Kara frowned at the folders and looked up when someone walked past her, someone who looked surprisingly familiar. Lois Lane.

She quickly hurried after Lois until she was almost walking beside her. “Miss Lane?”

Lois stopped and glanced over her shoulder at Kara. She appeared only marginally less hostile than Cat. She was wearing a similar blazer and slacks combination in black with white dots all over and Kara almost smiled at what Cat would say if she could see it. Well, the Cat in twenty-five years at least.

“Yes?”

“I…uh…I was looking for Clark…Kent?”

Lois’ eyes narrowed at the mention of Clark’s name and she brushed a stray lock of shoulder-length black hair aside. “He’s called in sick for a few days. He doesn’t respond to calls, so I wouldn’t get my hopes up, he does that disappearing act from time to time. And that’s exactly why he isn’t going to make it as a journalist.”

“Oh, alright, thank you,” Kara answered and took a small step back.

She remembered Clark telling her that his and Lois’ relationship had started off pretty rocky, but he hadn’t exactly mentioned _how_ rocky.

“Sure,” Lois answered and glanced down at her watch before dismissing Kara with a nod and heading down the hallway to the elevators.

Kara sighed quietly and looked at the folders in her arms, contemplating her next move. If Clark was out in the world somewhere, preventing some disaster, it would probably make the most sense if she’d wait for him to return, rather than risking to expose herself.

“Oh looks like you got the job,” a chirpy voice sounded from behind Kara and she turned around.

“Congratulations,” Betsy added with a bright smile and Kara managed a small smile in return.

“Thanks. You wouldn’t happen to know where the copy machines are, would you?”

S-S-S

“What do you mean you don’t have any identification?” Cat asked, and just in case her voice didn’t clearly transport her displeasure, she had her hands on her hips and one of her patented scowls on her face.

But the moment those sad sad eyes looked at her and the girl nervously started to fumble her words and reached up to her face but then lowered her hand and cradled it against her stomach made Cat briefly reconsider her harsh tone. But only very briefly.

“I… I just moved to the city, and uh, my suitcase was stolen, and it had all of my… stuff in it.”

Cat huffed and lifted a hand to massage her forehead with her fingertips. Only because she’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time was she responsible for Tate’s brand-new, fresh-faced little secretary. And now the girl didn’t have anything with her they could put on file, HR would not be pleased.

“Okay, well, it can’t be changed now, make sure to take care of this in the afternoon, do you understand? I just do not have the time to deal with you today. You can go home.”

The girl looked almost relieved when she jumped to her feet and hurried away from Cat’s desk, Cat’s gaze thoughtfully trailing after her. There was something about this girl, but Cat wasn’t sure what exactly it was and the fact that she just couldn’t put her finger on it would probably get to her in the future. Usually she could read people as easily as the morning paper. If you’d made your way through college with half of the staff and students hating your family or your mother, or both, you quickly learned to distinguish friend from foe.

Cat shook her head and returned to the files on her desk, longingly gazing at Tate’s office at the far end of the room. One day she wouldn’t have to work among all the other minions and their incessant noise and chatter. One day she’d have her own office, bigger than Tate’s, bigger than Perry’s even, and she would make every single one of her employees fall silent with a flick of her wrist.

With a quiet sigh, Cat returned to her work, preparing her upcoming interview with the city’s Cleaning Department. She knew Perry had hired her for her journalistic eye and stamina, so it was really about time he returned to work so she could show him how brilliant she actually was. That would at least get Tate off her back and she could focus on writing the things she was interested in, not this mind-numbing blather.

It took about an hour before she had finished up and was ready to leave the office. She double-checked all of her materials before casting one last glance at her orderly desk. Happy that everything seemed to be taken care of, she sauntered through the large room, ignoring the eyes she knew were following her from the other desks, and entered the elevator. Thankfully it was empty.

She hated riding the elevator, it meant being at close quarters with other people, who were smelly and loud and just simply irritating. The doors _ding_ ed open and Cat quickly crossed the entrance hall and stepped out into the sunlight.

She tilted her face toward the warmth and exhaled a quiet breath at her moment of peace. Only to be interrupted by the sight of a hunched form sitting on the steps of the Daily Planet. What the hell was the girl still doing here?

Cat worked her jaw and approached the new girl, about to berate her for lounging around on the steps like a homeless person. Rather than sitting around doing nothing, she could be in the middle of sorting out the whole stolen suitcase affair, a story which didn’t exactly add up to begin with.

Only about an hour later, Cat was once again standing in the sun, this time in front of her apartment building, glancing up at the blue sky and wondering how she had gone from a verbal whipping to having a temporary roommate. Certainly not one of her most glorious moments, but then again, not even the most heartless person could kick a puppy when it was already on the ground. Right?

S-S-S

“I don’t know, I haven’t heard from them either. How do we find out what happened?”

James was pacing up and down the small computer room, their private little headquarters at CatCo, his long legs preventing him from taking more than three steps in each direction.

Winn was slumped at his desk, staring at the empty computer screen. “Something must have gone wrong, otherwise Kara would be back by now. Maybe you should call Alex again.”

“I’ve called her about fifty times in the last thirty minutes,” James answered, “she knows we’re trying to reach her.”

Just then his cell phone rang and he basically jumped to grab it from where it was sitting on the desk. He snatched it up and shot a worried glance at Winn before holding it to his ear.

“Is Kara alright?”

There was a moment of silence before James raised a hand to rub it across his forehead, his entire body tensing. “No, she hasn’t shown up at work and we haven’t heard from her since this morning. Okay, yes, I’ll let you know if I hear anything, okay, thanks.”

Winn stood from his chair and approached James slowly. “What? What happened?”

“Kara just… disappeared. They don’t know where she is.”

“Okay, so we should start looking for her,” Winn replied, already inching closer to his computer again.

“Yes, but where do we even start?”

“I think I might have an idea,” said a voice coming from the doorway, almost startling both men out of their respective skins.

Winn’s eyes were wide as he stared at his boss, who looked anything but pleased. “M-Miss Grant?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, I have absolutely no clue how exactly the timeline of the show is organized (believe me I tried), so if some of this doesn't make any sense, please suspend your disbelief and/or let me know how exactly the timeline works so that I can adjust the events. Also, leave some feedback if you'd like and let me know what you thought about this chapter.


	2. But who's gonna save Supergirl?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, the response to the previous chapter was amazing. Thank you so much for all of your lovely comments. Because of them, I realized that the timeline of this fic isn't quite right. So I really have to ask you all to just go along with the idea that Clark, Lois and Cat are all closer in age and work together at the Daily Planet while Kara stops by for a little time travel visit. I mean, Lois and Clark could've been frozen in time for a few years, y'know? If Xena and Gabrielle can do it... but anyways, I'm hopeful that the timeline confusion doesn't distract from the story I'm trying to tell.

Cat groaned as she dropped onto her couch, completely ungraceful and without a single ounce of her usual swagger. Her day had started out with the water from the shower suddenly turning brown and then she was running late for work and Lois Lane smirked at her when she’d hurried into the office with her hair less than perfect and her clothes slightly crumpled from being pressed up against a smelly old man in the elevator.

Altogether not a good day. Now all she wanted was a glass of wine and a hot shower to wash away the stress, maybe even in that order.

She leaned her head back against the couch and propped her feet up onto the small coffee table in front of her. Her legs and feet ached from rushing from one end of the city to the other in heels and she just needed a moment to rest before she could indulge herself. Maybe she would even draw a bath and take that glass of wine with her.

The noise of a door opening and closing behind her was so unexpected that Cat actually jumped and her feet slid off the coffee table with a thump.

For a moment, she’d completely forgotten about her somewhat unwanted houseguest. It had actually occurred to her much later, after she’d left Kara in her apartment, that she had invited a total stranger to temporarily live with her. Usually Cat was suspicious, more than that even, but Kara Danvers had slipped past her bullshit radar so effortlessly that Cat had to wonder if she was going soft in the head.

“Oh I’m sorry,” Kara’s voice flittered through the room.

After seeing the girl working at the Daily Planet for a full day, Cat had to admit that she wasn’t entirely terrible at her job. Kara had also somehow managed to avoid their current boss Tate like she had a sixth sense for the man, which could prove to be useful in the future.

Cat waved Kara’s apology off with a flick of her wrist and pushed herself up from the couch.

“Bad day?” Kara asked, in that timid yet inquisitive tone of hers.

“The worst,” Cat replied and finally turned to face Kara, who was wearing one of Cat’s old hoodies from university, when she’d still thought such attire was appropriate, and a pair of sweatpants one of her past conquests must have left at her apartment at some point.

How someone could let their suitcase with all of their identification and clothes get stolen was a mystery to Cat, especially because Kara didn’t strike her as the careless or clumsy type.

It took her a few moments to drag her eyes away from Kara in her borrowed clothes but Cat eventually moved into the kitchen to grab a glass from her cupboard and a chilled bottle of wine from the fridge.

“I was going to make some stir fry,” Kara began, her voice tilting up at the end of the sentence.

Cat poured some wine into her glass and tilted the bottle toward Kara, who only shook her head. Cat shrugged in a ‘suit yourself’ manner.

“You can cook?” Cat raised the glass to her lips and took a healthy gulp.

Kara smiled and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear even though it wouldn’t have fallen into her face. “I have some specialties.”

“Sure, why not,” Cat replied.

Kara visibly brightened, her entire face breaking into a happy smile, and Cat felt her eyebrow arch upward.

“It’ll be ready in about twenty minutes.”

“Great.”

There was a beat of silence before Cat walked out of the kitchen, wine glass in hand, and made her way into the bathroom. She closed the door behind herself and stood there for a moment, her eyes narrowing.

The only noise in the room was her fingernail tapping against the glass in her hand.

Oh, this wouldn’t do. She couldn’t have any pleasurable tingles racing down her spine at the happy puppy-dog smile of her new quasi-roommate. She simply didn’t have the time for anything like this. God, her mother would have an aneurysm if anyone told her that her daughter found some women much more aesthetically pleasing than most men. Cat smirked. Maybe someone should tell her mother then.

She pushed away from the door and put the wine glass onto the counter next to the sink before moving to the bathtub and turning the faucets. The room quickly filled with steam and Cat took off her clothes with efficient ease before slipping into the hot water.

Her muscles instantly relaxed and she sighed happily, leaning back against the back of the tub and resting her arms on either side, the feeling of cold marble a very pleasant contrast to the hot water.

She sat up briefly, water sloshing around her skin, and reached for the wine glass to empty half of its contents in one go. The alcohol warmed her even further and she felt heat rush to her head, making her slightly dizzy. She sat back and slid downward until the water covered her shoulders. Lifting her foot out of the water, she turned off the faucet with her toes before closing her eyes and sighing.

Once her fingers started pruning and the water had gotten slightly cold, she decided that it was time to follow the demands of her growling stomach and get out of the tub. The smell of something delicious cooking wafted in through the cracks underneath the closed door.

Cat sat up again and pulled the plug, listening to the water rush down the drain for a few moments. Then she grabbed a towel hanging beside her and rose to her feet. She stepped out of the tub, her bare feet squishing into the mat on the floor. She had just wrapped the towel around her body when the dizziness from earlier suddenly returned and she began to sway right where she stood. The room appeared blurry and black was creeping at the edges of her vision.

She reached out a hand to steady herself but her fingers only slipped across the sink without finding any purchase. And then her world was tilting and she uttered a quiet curse as her head exploded with pain.

Already in the next second she felt warm arms wrap around her and she was pulled back into an upright position.

“Oh my god Cat, are you alright?”

There were still black spots in her vision but she blinked rapidly to find Kara’s concerned face staring at her, eyes wide.

Cat groaned quietly and reached up to touch her fingertips against her forehead, flinching when she came into contact with a small painful bump.

“What the hell…?”

Her eyes flickered from Kara to the open bathroom door. Hadn’t she just slipped a second ago? How had Kara made it into the room so quickly? No, she must’ve passed out.

“I think you hit your head,” Kara said, still looking incredibly worried.

Cat grimaced. “Thank you for pointing that out.”

It took her a moment to notice that Kara was still holding on tightly and basically keeping her on her feet. Her knees were still wobbly but she tried to push Kara away, because how in the world could someone be that hot to the touch?

This close, Cat could clearly see the blush spreading from Kara’s neck up to her cheeks. She loosened her embrace a bit but still kept two steadying hands on her shoulder, skin on skin, and one surprisingly strong hand against Cat’s towel-clad hip.

“How did you get in here so quickly?” Cat asked.

“Oh…uhm…I heard a noise and you didn’t answer when I called your name, so uh, I came in and you were on the floor, you know, sort of holding your head.”

Cat squinted. “Really?”

“Uh…yes?”

She really wasn’t in the condition to interpret Kara’s awkward answer and instead closed her eyes briefly. “I’m okay, you can let go.”

Kara immediately removed her hands as if burned and took several steps back, putting an appropriate distance between them. “Are you… I mean what if you have a concussion?”

“If I start passing out or throwing up I’ll worry about that, for now I just need some aspirin.” Cat’s stomach grumbled audibly. “And food.”

“Right, okay,” Kara answered, still hovering with her hands slightly extended as if she was ready to catch Cat at any second.

A headache was pulsing in rhythm with her heartbeat and she clenched her jaw. “I’ll be right out, I’m fine, thank you for… you know, making sure I was okay.”

Seconds passed and Kara still hadn’t moved an inch. Cat raised her eyebrow, baring her teeth at the pain racing through her forehead.

“Unless you’re waiting for a show?” Cat asked, tugging on the edge of her towel.

Kara’s blush returned in full force and her eyes slammed to the ground so quickly Cat was afraid she’d leave a crater.

“N-No, sorry, I’ll be in the kitchen… food… and aspirin.”

With that she turned on her heel and fled the bathroom with quick steps, closing the door surprisingly softly.

Cat groaned quietly and turned around to peer at the red angry bump on her forehead in the mirror. Her eyes dropped down to the sink and she frowned. She really must’ve passed out but oddly enough she couldn’t remember hitting the floor at all, and the only body part in pain was her head.

God, what a day.

Cat rolled her eyes and reached for the half-empty wine glass to finish off the rest. She then slipped into her comfortable clothes and glanced into the mirror one last time before walking out of the bathroom.

She returned to the kitchen where she found Kara waiting for her with two steaming plates of food on the table, a glass of water in one hand, two aspirin in the other, and a sheepish smile on her face.

Warmth that had nothing to do with her steaming hot bath flooded Cat and she pursed her lips thoughtfully, accepting the glass of water and aspirin with a quiet ‘thanks’.

S-S-S

Kara reached up toward her face but once again her fingers only grasped at air. She missed her glasses, especially since she had somehow moved into Cat Grant’s spare bedroom two days ago.

Instead Kara pinched the bridge of her nose with forefinger and thumb and shook her head from one side to the other. One moment she was stranded in a city with no way of getting back home, to her own time, and the next she was working alongside Cat and living in her apartment. And as if it wasn’t mind-boggling enough that she had seen her boss in a towel, she had probably messed up the timeline and would have to return to a future ruled by giant insects.

Kara groaned quietly and tried to replace the image of Cat Grant in a towel with a human-sized praying mantis while she stood in front of the ancient, well in this case modern, copying machine and waited for the pages to print. God she missed the offices at CatCo, and Alex, and simply everyone else. Her family.

Once the copying machine spit out the last pieces of paper, Kara gathered them in her arms and began walking from the end of the office where most assistants were located to where the reporters had their open bullpens. She was just about to round the corner when a familiar voice froze her in place.

“I’m sorry Lois, but I was really quite sick and wouldn’t have wanted to get anyone else –“

“Save your excuses for someone who cares to hear them Kent.”

Kara began to move again and peered around the corner to watch the couple bicker in the middle of the room. The other reporters studiously ignored them, so apparently this wasn’t an entirely novel sight to anybody.

Her eyes were fixed on Clark and the way he reached up to fiddle with his glasses while he talked to Lois in a very calm and soft voice, so very unlike the darker timbre he used when in his red and blue suit. Kara bit her lip to stifle a smile at the obvious similarities between them. She’d never gotten to see Kal-El grow up and having this version of him in front of her, at the same age as herself, was an entirely new experience.

“Anything exciting to see here?” A voice whispered in her ear and Kara jumped so hard that the papers she’d been cradling in her arms went flying in all directions. She might have yelped a little too.

Kara whipped around and found Cat standing behind her, smirking in that way of hers where she found something incredibly amusing but refused to laugh outright to keep her composure. Kara's eyes flickered briefly to the small red bump clearly visible on Cat's forehead and her entire face immediately felt warmer. 

“Looks you’ve got some cleaning up to do, make sure the files are in order.”

With that Cat turned on her heel and stalked back to her desk where she sat with her back straight and a small glint in her eye.

Kara wanted to glare, she really did, but it wouldn’t be worth it knowing that Cat couldn’t be rattled, not like this and not by someone like her, a lowly assistant. Instead she sighed and knelt down to pick up the pieces of paper from the floor, only to come face to face with Clark already on his knees helping her gather everything. He smiled sheepishly while Lois watched them from across the room with a deep scowl on her face.

Together they managed to collect the stray papers in record time and they rose from the floor simultaneously, Clark handing her the few remaining pages. “Don’t let them get to you, they sometimes just like to hide behind that tough exterior. They’re good people.”

Kara nodded automatically and reached out to clasp Clark’s hand when he offered it to her. “I’m Clark Kent.”

“I know,” she replied and took in a quick breath before squeezing Clark’s hand with an amount of strength that would’ve broken a normal person’s bones. “And we need to talk.”

Clark’s gaze snapped from their clasped hands to her face and his eyes narrowed. “It seems so.”

S-S-S

Kara watched Clark pace back and forth with a hand cradling his jaw from her spot on the small wall that surrounded the roof of the Daily Planet.

“I know that this is a complicated situation, and I would understand if you don’t believe me, not right away at least.”

Clark stopped for a moment and looked at Kara, scrutinizing her features before he smiled lightly. “Somehow I do believe you, I can’t quite explain it but there is a connection between us, a familiarity. Strange, isn’t it?”

“I knew who you were from the first moment I saw you,” Kara replied with a nod and a smile.

Clark opened his mouth but seemed to think better of it and sighed instead. “I’m glad I get to meet you Kara, I really am, but this time travelling could cause serious problems. If you change anything while you’re here, who knows what consequences that could have.”

“Yes, I know, but I’m hoping everyone back home is working to, you know, get me back to my time.”

“I’m sure they are, but maybe there’s a way for us to help them somehow.”

“Do you think we could send some kind of message? Like not through time, but just… from the past?”

Clark nodded slowly. “That could be possible.”

He glanced down at his watch and winced before he shot an apologetic smile at Kara. “But it might have to wait until tonight. I already took off a few days to help with an earthquake in Japan, if I don’t go back to work now Lois will have my head, superpowers or not.”

Kara grinned and slid off the wall to brush off any remaining dirt from her pants. “Yeah, I know how that feels.”

They walked across the rooftop side by side toward the door and Clark tilted his head in her direction. “It’s… it’s nice to know I’m not alone.”

“Yes, it is.”

They were about to head back into the building when Kara stopped and turned to Clark with a small apologetic smile. “Do you… do you think I could borrow your credit card for a while? I’m going to need some new clothes, you know, or people will get suspicious.”

“Oh yes, of course, you can also use it to get a place to stay, and whatever else you need. I would invite you to live with me, but there are people out there that I wouldn’t want to become aware of you. Not yet at least.”

Kara deflated a little but nodded in understanding. Despite the fact that only very few people knew that she was Supergirl, she also preferred to live alone. She couldn’t imagine having a roommate when Non, or any of the other ex-prisoners of Fort Roz, decided to come after her.

She returned to the office alongside Clark and they went their separate ways with the promise of meeting up later that night.

Kara was back at her desk to sort through the files she’d previously dropped when she felt her neck tingle. She looked up and over her shoulder and found two pairs of eyes staring at her with varying degrees of curiosity and contempt. She gulped and turned back around with her head down and nose buried in papers.

If there were two women in this timeline she didn’t want to cross, it would have to be Lois Lane and Cat Grant, and apparently she’d just committed some kind of faux pas by socializing with the resident superhero.

 S-S-S

Winn was nervously fiddling with his tie while James had a stoic look on his face and was pensively staring out of the car window. Cat rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

The back of the large black car smelled like cheap leather and the fidgety little hobbit boy was dampening the air with his perspiration.

“Are you sure it’s Kara?” James asked in his deep voice and Cat turned her attention to him.

He still had this slightly constipated look.

“Of course I’m sure. You didn’t think I’d notice when I suddenly remember my current assistant showing up at the Daily Planet twenty-five years ago?”

“It could just be someone who looks like her,” Winn suggested.

“Don’t be ridiculous, there is only one Supergirl.”

Winn seemed choke on nothing but air and then laughed shakily. “But Kara isn’t Supergirl.”

Cat sighed and leaned her elbow against the door of the car to support her head with her fingers. “Oh please, I’m neither blind nor stupid, of course I know she is Supergirl. The whole doppelganger spiel might have had me fooled for a hot second, but there is no way I can ignore all those so-called coincidences. Your little band of misfits is not as subtle as you may think.”

James sighed and inclined his head. “Looks it’s time to put the cards on the table.”

“Looks like it,” Cat replied and the rest of the car ride was wrapped in silence.

They eventually left the paved roads outside of National City and Cat watched the highway grow smaller and smaller until there was only hills and dirt. Why couldn’t this secret government organization inhabit facilities deep underneath the city or something along those lines? No, they had to go all the way into the desert to figure out why Kara Danvers was messing with her past and her memories.

The car eventually came to a stop and Cat climbed out of the van, shielding her eyes from the setting sun with her hand. Several armed men and women in black suits filed out of a small bunker and stood on either side of them as she and the two wannabe-musketeers were escorted into the cool interior of the anthill.

One elevator ride later, Cat found herself in a room that looked like something she’d expect from a shady government organization. A wall filled with monitors, machines, and other objects of obviously foreign technology strewn all about. People in black suits who were doing important work rushing back and forth.

God, what she could do with all this information. Expose an entire branch of a secret organization and blow this whole aliens-on-earth business wide open.

But before Cat could get too deep into her daydreams of journalistic success, two people were marching toward them, a man and a woman, both seeming entirely displeased. She narrowed her eyes at the man, he looked familiar. It was the same guy who had come into her office after the disaster with Livewire.

“So you’re not FBI after all, Agent Mulder.”

The man scowled at her briefly but turned his angry gaze toward James and Winn, who seemed apologetic but familiar with this type of scenario.

“What is Miss Grant doing here?” the man asked, pushing his chest forward and folding his hands behind his back.

Cat narrowed her eyes, a thought striking her.

“Agent Henshaw, well, Miss Grant might know where Supergirl is,” Winn answered, trying to sound upbeat.

“Is that so?”

Once Cat was looking into the stoic face of the man still standing in this particular rigid pose, both of her eyebrows rose up to her hairline. “It was you, wasn’t it? You and her almost had me fooled there,” she said with a small shake of her head.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Miss Grant, but if you have information regarding the whereabouts of Supergirl, you would be well-advised to share with us.”

Cat pursed her lips and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Now wait a minute, shouldn’t this be a mutual exchange if you want –“

The brown-haired woman who had been silently standing next to Henshaw now stepped forward and entered Cat’s personal space without a second thought. “You better tell us what you know or this might have dire consequences for all of us.”

Cat couldn’t remember the last time someone had tried to intimidate her this way, and even though she was impressed, she remained calm on the outside, only quirking her lips lightly. “Well then, let’s get on with it. I’m just as eager to get Kara out of my head as you are.”

Winn coughed from behind her, perhaps to hide some other noise, while the woman had an entirely inscrutable expression on her face. “Excuse me?”

S-S-S

Kara sighed and rubbed a hand across her forehead as she trudged up the stairs to Cat’s apartment. It was well past midnight and despite talking to Clark for hours, they really hadn’t come up with a decent plan yet. Aside from digging a few holes and leaving messages in bottles for Alex and the DEO to find, it really was quite difficult to take action without messing with the timeline and making everything even worse.

Kara dug her key out of her new purse and stared at it for a moment. After Cat’s contact at the DMV had organized her a new ID, Cat had given her a key so she could come and go as she pleased without having to wake her up.

Maybe this was already a mistake. Entering the life of someone she would know twenty-five years later. But Kara was fairly certain that Cat Grant, the Queen of all Media, would not remember a girl she’d lived with for merely a few days. And it just felt comforting to have a familiar face close to her. Even though she could talk to Clark now, it didn't feel right. He was just figuring things out for himself and he wasn’t much more experienced than Kara, not yet at least.

Cat however was entirely different matter. She was a force to be reckoned with, even now, and it grounded Kara in an unexpected way.

She finally slid the key into the lock and slipped into the dark apartment. A quick search with her super hearing told her that Cat was already in bed and fast asleep. Kara listened to her even breaths for a few seconds before realizing how creepy it was.

So instead she tiptoed into the kitchen and grabbed a few snacks she had seen in the back of the cupboard untouched. Cat didn’t strike her as someone who enjoyed sweets or cookies often, so she would simply replace whatever she took before leaving.

She sat down at the breakfast bar and munched on a chocolate chip cookie, her eyes traveling around the small apartment. It wasn’t quite as large as the one she lived in, but truth was she could only afford the place in National City because Eliza and Jeremiah had bought it before she’d come along, and now, after she’d insisted, she was only paying a small sum for rent.

Her eyes landed on a stack of papers beside her and she pulled them closer to take a look. It was apparently an article Cat was working on, something about sanitation work and the Metropolis City Cleaning Department. Kara found herself reading the article, noting that Cat’s writing style had changed quite a bit over the years. Cat was seemingly just finding her own voice and a topic she had absolutely no interest in had left her with some really frustrating lines, judging by the giant red marks crossing out about half of what she’d already written.

With a small frown on her face Kara distractedly grabbed a nearby pen and began tinkering with the words and rewrote them in a way she had witnessed Cat do over and over again.

She was at it for so long that her eyes eventually started closing of their own accord. The cookie box was empty and Kara tossed it into the trash with a massive yawn. She dragged herself across the apartment, papers on the breakfast bar all but forgotten. After a super-speed-shower, she flopped into bed and  listened unconsciously to Cat’s breathing from the other room until she fell asleep.

S-S-S

James talked on the phone while four pairs of eyes were watching him very closely. Once he ended the call he was met with impatient stares.

“Superman just confirmed that Kara is in the past and has contacted him.”

“As if there was any doubt,” Cat mumbled quietly but no one listened, not after she had become increasingly impatient and irritated because her story had been met with disbelief and hesitation.

“I understand why she would seek out Superman,” Alex said, side-eying Cat, “but why her?” She jotted her thumb toward Cat, who bristled quietly.

“Perhaps she figured that it would be the easiest way to let us know where she is,” Winn suggested, “but why… didn’t you say anything?”

Cat frowned and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Didn’t say anything about what?”

Winn immediately paled and his mouth opened a few times before he made some coherent sounds. “I mean… I mean if Kara is in the past now, you must have known all this time that she would be there, right? So you could have told someone, and we could have stopped it from happening.”

Cat slowly advanced on Winn, her arms now at her sides. “Do you honestly think I would have let this happen if I’d had any idea what was going on?”

“I don’t understand,” James intercepted, “how is it possible that you remember Kara in your past now?”

With a sigh Cat turned away from Winn who looked like he was about a second away from bolting, and scowled at James instead. “I'm not sure if I can explain it, but one thing should be clear here, I didn’t know it was going to happen", Cat emphasized before continuing, "I wasn’t actively remembering it, but once Kara showed up in the past, my past, it was as if I could suddenly recall these events side by side. As if I have two versions of the same memory in my head.”

Agent Henshaw cleared his throat and every pair of eyes turned to him, including Cat’s annoyed glare.

“Time travel is a very complicated matter, it is tricky and hardly anyone can explain its exact interpolations. However, one established theory is that important events which were meant to happen, always do. Therefore some think we can try to change the future, but it is futile in the end. Which leads me to believe that Kara being in the past was actually meant to happen and the timeline simply righted itself after she left, including whatever memories you may have had, Miss Grant.”

“Woah,” Winn whispered.

Cat furrowed her brow. “Does that mean I will forget about it once she is back?”

Agent Henshaw looked thoughtful for a moment. “That is difficult to predict, but for now I don’t think so.”

Cat had more questions, of course she did, but before she could utter any of them, Agent Henshaw once again straightened his posture. “Now that we have figured out what happened, we will do our best to find a solution. But I’m seeing too many civilians here. I have to ask you all to leave.”

He looked at Cat. “Miss Grant, I will give you a secure phone number where you can reach us at any time in case you receive any new information regarding the situation. We count on your discretion.”

Cat huffed. “I expect to be kept in the loop as well, because my past is being messed with as we speak, so you better let me know when you plan to get Kara back here.”

Henshaw gave her a non-committal hum and gestured for two of his people to escort them back down the corridor they had come from. Cat felt Agent Scully’s eyes on her as she walked past but refused to acknowledge her and simply jutted her chin forward while she kept on moving.

These people were as secretive as it could get, so Cat doubted they would keep her updated if she wasn’t one of the immediate connections they had to Supergirl at the moment.

It wasn’t like she enjoyed being visited from the Ghost of Christmas Future. But it was also kind of exhilarating, being involved in something like this. It was not only aliens, and shape shifters, but time travel for crying out loud. If she could go back in time and change things, well, there were a few marriages she could’ve done without. And a young Cat who tried way too hard to impress a woman who couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge her daughter’s accomplishments. Not then, not ever.

If she’d had someone back then, someone who would’ve made her believe that she was enough, there was no telling how that would’ve changed her life. Cat shivered at the implications and tugged her blazer closer around her body. The sun had already set and the desert was completely black beyond the headlights of the car waiting for them.

For now it was time to stop dwelling on the past, she still had an international company to run after all.


	3. This is a message, pay attention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another chapter just in time, I'm really keeping up with my set schedule because, truth is, these two are so much fun to write.

Where was the advantage of having super speed when you couldn’t even use it in the most dire of circumstances?

Kara felt a shiver run down her spine and grimaced lightly at the uncomfortable sensation. That made her new boss, Mr. Tate, smile even wider. She didn’t like what she saw in that smile, not at all.

In the past three days he had left her pretty much alone while she had become the assistant to various reporters in the office, everyone giving her one odd task after the other. Tate had apparently been busy with something, Kara wasn’t sure what, but now he finally seemed to have found the time to acknowledge his new employee.

The office was empty and Kara been chatting up on the roof with Clark for the past hour before he had taken off to meet with Lois. It was quite fascinating to watch their blossoming relationship and a young Clark blushing over a woman he liked.

But now she wished she’d taken off from the roof rather than going back into the building to gather her things. Tate had come out of his office at the same moment Kara had grabbed her jacket from her desk. She’d silently hoped that he wouldn’t notice her and stood completely still, but then a grin stretched his mouth when his dark eyes landed on her.

Now she was quite literally trapped between her desk and Tate advancing on her.

“Good evening,” she greeted quickly, holding her jacket in front of her body like a shield, “I was just leaving.”

“Why don’t you stay a moment to chat? Tell me how you’ve been getting on, I hope the other girls weren’t too rough with you.” Tate had something of a predator about him, a certain confidence that he was at the top of the food chain, or at least so he thought.

He invaded Kara’s personal space and she found herself scooting backwards until she was almost sitting on her desk.

Something like this would never happen at CatCo, at least not under Cat Grant’s watchful eye. Cat had a knack for sniffing out privileged men who thought they could take whatever they wanted without being punished. Kara had seen many of them walk out after being fired ceremoniously by an irate Cat who did not take kindly to assholes. Maybe Tate was the reason for that, Kara thought as the smell of his aftershave filled her nose.

“I would prefer to leave now,” she said, her voice steady and clear. Tate only smiled wider. He reached out his hand and Kara’s own fingers balled into a tight fist. One punch was all it would take.

She was so tightly coiled that she almost jumped when a voice rang through the otherwise quiet office. “There you are Keira, I was looking for you, come on we don’t have all night.”

Tate’s hand stilled in the air and he turned to look over his shoulder at Cat standing a few feet away from them.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I need some assistance with a few things tonight,” Cat said sweetly, adding the fakest smile Kara had ever seen for good measure.

Tate straightened his shoulders and cleared his throat. “If you must.” He turned back to Kara and looked her up and down for a moment. “I’m sure we can chat at a later time.”

With that he disappeared back into his office and Kara released a breath she hadn’t been aware she was holding in.

Cat was still standing there, staring at her with slightly narrowed eyes.

“That wasn’t… I wasn’t… thank you,” Kara eventually managed to say.

“You can’t be careful enough with men like Tate,” Cat answered and tilted her head in the direction of the elevator, “come on.”

Kara quickly grabbed her things, hurried after Cat and together they entered the elevator. Silence descended on them after a few moments and Kara began to fiddle with a button on her jacket.

“You didn’t really need my help with anything tonight, right?”

“Of course not.”

Kara nodded and turned back to staring at the doors until they opened into the lobby of the Daily Planet.

“Let’s go get some drinks,” Cat said once they’d left the building, and Kara actually looked around to see if there was someone else Cat could be speaking to.

“Oh, uhm… I don’t drink, usually.”

“A bit of alcohol won’t kill you, plus you deserve it after your first run-in with Tate.”

How could Kara possibly refuse if Cat was smirking at her like that?

Kara found herself studying the other woman as they walked to a bar Cat said she liked, only a few blocks from the Daily Planet. She was once again wearing a skirt that was barely legal and a red blazer that was essentially as long as said skirt. Her hair wasn’t as coiffed as Kara remembered and it moved softly in the evening breeze. For a moment Kara had to remind herself that there were indeed twenty-five years between this self-assured woman and her hard as nails boss.

There were differences, of course, but the essence of what defined the Cat she knew was already there.

“Stop staring or someone is going to think you have a crush,” Cat said without looking at her and Kara immediately tore her eyes away, a hot blush creeping up her neck.

“Sorry,” she mumbled quietly.

They made the rest of the way in silence until Cat pushed open the door to a small bar on a street corner. It wasn’t a place Kara would’ve imagined Cat to frequent, but in this case she looked quite at home.

Cat took her coat off and tossed it into a small booth. “I’ll get us drinks,” she announced and walked off toward the bar that took up half of the room.

Kara slowly sat down and let her eyes wander around. The bar was a little more upscale on the inside than it looked from the outside and the customers all seemed to be business people of some sort winding down after a long a day at work.

A few people walked up to Cat to talk to her at the bar and Kara watched with her chin on her hand. Cat effortlessly rebuffed guys that were clearly flirting with her while at the same time holding a conversation with the female bartender.

Before she could be caught staring again, Kara turned away and discovered a black piano sitting on a small stage at the very back of the bar.

She had been so focused on looking at anything but Cat that she jumped slightly when a glass thumped onto the table in front of her and Cat slid into the booth.

“There’ll be some music later,” Cat commented with a nod toward the piano.

“I love live music,” Kara answered with a smile. And she really did. Alex always took her to clubs and sometimes even bars to hear musicians play. She didn’t really have a preference, sometimes she was happily bouncing along to rock music and at other times she just wanted to listen to a calm voice accompanied by nothing but a guitar.

Cat nudged the glass toward Kara. It looked like some kind of simple cocktail and she accepted it with a grateful nod. It wasn't half bad, only the bitter taste of alcohol didn’t quite agree with her and since it didn’t affect her it never actually turned from unpleasant to nice.

“So, what’s your story Keira?” Cat asked eventually, sipping at her own drink.

Kara narrowed her eyes slightly and leaned back. “I know that you know this isn’t actually my name, so why do you use it?”

She’d been meaning to ask that question for years, and now that even this version of Cat seemed to have an affinity for calling her by false names she finally had a chance to get an answer.

Cat seemed a little embarrassed as she cleared her throat and looked away. “It’s just something I do, sometimes,” she answered slowly, carefully almost.

Kara leaned forward, watching Cat. “It’s about being in charge, I guess, right?”

Cat sighed. “I suppose. Being called by a nickname, or any name that isn’t quite right, it means that the other person doesn’t really know you, so yes, in a way that means that person can afford not to care.”

Kara’s mind flashed back to Cat’s mother and how she continuously called her daughter ‘Kitty’.

“I get it, and I don’t mind really.”

Cat looked at her then, apparently a little surprised by her admission. “You don’t? Then why call me out on it?”

“I was just curious,” Kara answered with a small shrug, before her attention was drawn to something behind Cat.

A woman with long blonde curls took a seat behind the piano. The lights in the bar dimmed a little and the stage became illuminated.

“Oh, it’s starting,” Kara said, wriggling a little in her seat and clutching her drink in both hands.

The woman at the piano introduced herself and smiled. ”This song is called ‘home again’, enjoy.”

Kara was entranced throughout the entire song and the glass between her fingers cracked lightly before she forced herself to relax. The irony of the song didn’t escape her, but being reminded of how much she missed her family and friends still felt like a physical pain.

There must’ve been something in her expression, because she felt a warm hand resting on her arm and looked down to find Cat’s fingers lightly stroking her skin. Her eyes moved upward and Cat looked at her with something akin to sympathy.

“Are you alright?”

Kara released a shuddering breath and nodded. “Yes, I am, sorry, I just wasn’t expecting this. I haven’t been this far away from home in a long time.”

After that they both turned back to the singer to listen to a song that was more upbeat. Cat squeezed her arm one more time and let go. Kara immediately missed the warmth and the comfort it brought. She was a hugger, there was no way around it, and Alex was usually the recipient of her hugs. Here and now, she could hardly walk up to Clark and do that, so physical affection was quite scarce.

Kara sighed and took a long gulp from her drink.

“You still haven’t answered my question,” Cat said after the song ended, “or better yet, why don’t you tell me what’s going on between you and four eyes?”

“You mean Clark?”

“Who else?”

“Oh, well, he’s sort of… a family friend.”

“Well, you should really be careful about hunting on Lois’s turf, she can be pretty ruthless when she wants to be, don’t let that daddy’s girl façade fool you.”

Kara made a face and shook her head. “You mean… Clark and I? God no, that’s not… just eew. He’s like a brother.”

Cat hid a small smile behind her glass but Kara still caught it.

The question ‘what about you?’ was on the tip of Kara’s tongue, but it felt strange asking Cat about her love life, especially knowing that she would have three marriages behind her when they met in the future.

Instead she emptied her drink in one long gulp and returned to listening to the woman at the piano who not only had a very pleasant voice but also a calm aura.

Once she began hiding small yawns behind her hand, Cat called it a night and paid for their drinks despite Kara’s meek protests. In the end it was Cat who was slightly tipsy as they made their way back to the apartment. Most people probably wouldn’t have noticed Cat was intoxicated. Aside from her movements being a little slower and her words coming out after thoughtful pauses there was nothing indicating that she’d had a couple of drinks. A skill, Kara knew, Cat would eventually master perfectly.

“Night Kara,” Cat called her over her shoulder with a small finger wave when they went on to their respective rooms.

Kara smiled to herself and watched Cat close the door behind her without glancing back.

S-S-S

The next morning Kara was still sleeping soundly when a loud noise woke her up. She jerked up in bed and clawed at her hair to drag it away from her face. Her hand fumbled for her glasses on the nightstand until Cat’s voice drew her from her half-asleep state toward the door.

“Open up Danvers,” she called and Kara yanked her door open bleary-eyed.

Judging by the fact that Cat had several drinks the previous night she should be the one struggling to get out of bed. Instead Kara felt like she was missing about eight hours of sleep.

After taking a brief shower and settling in bed, Kara had suddenly become aware of several sirens rushing down the street. Her super hearing had allowed her to find the reason for all the noise – a burning building full of people who were trying to get out before the flames reached their floor.

Her muscles had tensed immediately, ready to jump out of bed and put on her suit. But then the thought of how her presence as Supergirl in Metropolis could irrevocably mess up an entire timeline, destroying who knew how many lives, had frozen her to the spot. So she’d lain awake in bed, listening to the screams and wails of desperation of entire families with her heart almost beating out of her chest.

Luckily Superman had swooped in shortly after, making sure that every single person made it out of the burning building alive. But by then the adrenaline had already flooded her system and there just had been no way she could have gone to sleep afterward, especially since it took her hours to stop herself from listening to the noises of the entire city, while that song from the bar played on repeat in her mind.

Alas, she felt like a zombie as she stood in front of Cat the next morning.

Cat was already dressed in something that resembled sport attire, knee-length tight pants and top that was covered by a light jacket, her hair pulled back into a ponytail, a style Kara didn’t exactly associate with Cat

“You look… terrible,” she stated, her eyes flickering from Kara’s feet up to her face.

“Thanks,” Kara grunted.

“Well, you said you don’t drink often, but I didn’t think one cocktail would knock you over like that.”

“Anything I can help you with?” Kara asked, leaning against the door. As much as she had come to look forward to chatting with Cat, she really wasn’t in the mood for small talk.

“I thought I’d see if you were up for some jogging,” Cat answered.

That woke Kara a little bit. She straightened and blinked. “You want me to go jogging with you?”

“Well, looks like you could use it this morning, get that circulation going and you’ll feel better in no time.”

Kara frowned. “What makes you think I jog?”

She knew her brain wasn’t quite functioning at full capacity but the look Cat was giving her completely confused the few brain cells that were awake. She looked almost… appreciative?

“Come on, let’s go Danvers,” Cat answered with a jerk of her chin and Kara couldn’t help but smile.

“You really don’t like calling people by their names, do you,” she said and Cat stared stone-faced, “okay, I’ll be right out.”

How could she say no when Cat was asking her to go jogging? Maybe it would help clear her head a little, so she could forget the look on Cat’s face from a minute ago. Because, oh no, she wasn’t going to read into that, or think about it, at all.

Kara closed the door and dug around in the small closet space that only contained a few pants, cardigans, blouses and two dresses bought with Clark’s credit card. It seemed like there was nothing suitable for a workout but upon further inspection of the dark recesses of the closet she found tiny little shorts and a t-shirt that couldn’t look more like the 90s if she’d just jumped out of a fitness video.

She bit her lip and pulled the shorts up her legs, frowning.

The t-shirt was a bit small, exposing a sliver of her stomach while she reached up to tie her hair back.

She glanced into the mirror and stared for a moment. She didn’t usually wear such revealing clothing but the truth was that her Supergirl outfit showed quite a bit of leg, so it would seem kind of hypocritical if she shot down Cat because of a bout of shyness.

Kara took in a breath through her nose and opened the door to walk out of her room. The smell of freshly brewed coffee lured her into the kitchen and she found Cat raising a steaming mug to her lips, only to stop mid-movement.

Her eyes were taking in Kara’s outfit, her mouth hanging open while the coffee mug was hovering in the air in front of her.

Kara felt her cheeks heat up and she looked down at her herself while pulling at the shorts. “It was all I could find, I hope you don’t mind me borrowing these, I didn’t have anything else.”

Several seconds passed by and Kara looked back up at Cat when the silence became uncomfortable. Cat was still frozen in place.

“Cat?”

That seemed to snap her out of it as Cat jostled the coffee mug in her hand and brown liquid spilled over her hand onto the countertop. She cursed quietly and took a long gulp of the remaining coffee before depositing it in the sink.

Meanwhile Kara grabbed a few paper towels to clean up the small mess at the counter. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, fine,” Cat answered, “let’s get going, we don’t want to be late into work.”

With that she walked out of the kitchen, grabbed a small pouch that she tied around her waist and they were on their way.

Cat took her to a nearby park where they did some light stretching and Kara noted with mild amusement that Cat refused to even look in her direction. It was a strange feeling, like something warm curling in her stomach, knowing that she could fluster Cat Grant with her legs and abs.

Not that she’d ever thought about the possibility that Cat might find her attractive. It was flattering, that was all. Maybe Cat wasn’t even behaving like this because she was mildly interested, maybe she was embarrassed? Kara looked down at her outfit again. Maybe she just didn’t want to tell Kara that she looked absolutely ridiculous. But she was _in_ the 90s and a quick look around confirmed that most people were dressed pretty much the same as her.

Rather than dwelling on it for much longer, she took off after they had warmed up and paced herself so she could fall into step with Cat, pretending to be breathing a little heavier as they ran.

Cat was slim and fit, so they passed many of the other joggers doing their rounds that morning with ease. Sweat was making Cat’s skin glisten in the sun and Kara had a little bit of trouble regulation her speed from time to time. Cat didn’t seem to notice but she didn’t fall behind either, so whenever Kara ran a little faster due to carelessness Cat picked up speed as well.

They kept it up for almost half an hour until Cat slowed down and began walking rather than running. She stretched her arms above her head and took deep breaths.

“Wouldn’t have pegged you for a runner,” Cat wheezed.

“I think I’m just a natural,” Kara answered with a small shrug, trying to appear unassuming.

“I’d say so.” Cat eventually stopped and rested her hands on her knees, leaning forward. “I think I have to sit down.”

She made her way over to a nearby park bench while Kara sort of hovered behind her just in case she passed out or something equally dramatic happened. Cat seemed pretty winded and Kara winced in sympathy.

Cat sat down with a thump and leaned back, still breathing quickly. Kara took a seat next to her and folded her hands in her lap. Why had she agreed to this? It was such a bad idea.

“You know, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something,” Cat began and Kara tensed.

Cat’s eyes finally landed on her and she raised her eyebrows slightly before continuing. “I found my article yesterday morning, the one I had left on the counter.”

Kara nodded slowly, her mind providing a memory of her sleepily doing some corrections like she was used to.

“It had notes all over it, revisions too, and since I doubt a burglar would break into my apartment to fix my writing, I assume it was you.”

“I… well, yes it was, but I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

Cat hummed quietly, her breathing finally slowing down. “Interestingly enough your suggestions were quite helpful, an improvement even, and trust me I don’t say that lightly. You obviously have experience Kara, and yet you are an assistant to a man who can’t see beyond the next skirt. Something doesn’t quite add up.”

Kara suddenly wished Cat would go back to avoiding her rather than piercing her with a knowing stare. Even though the jog hadn’t made her break out in a sweat, she now felt the palms of her hands go slightly damp.

How could she possibly explain that she’d been learning from the best for two years – the Cat Grant of the future?

“I can see the little cogs in your head turning and I’m pretty sure you’re going to tell me that you’re a natural at that as well,” Cat said.

Kara smiled and raised her hands, palms up, in a half-shrug. “Maybe I am.”

Cat huffed quietly and got to her feet. “As much as I’d like to continue this conversation, we do have to go back if I want a shower before work.”

They were taking it slower this time and Cat looked at Kara as they were running side by side. “You’re not off the hook, Danvers.”

S-S-S

Cat rested both hands against the cold tiles while the hot water from above ran over her back and shoulders. She was surprisingly sore, just because she had tried to keep up with Kara who must’ve been some kind of runner in college. It was just like her to not brag about being a star athlete too, so Cat was left with stiff muscles that not even a scalding hot shower would be able to loosen. And she had the entire work day ahead of her as well.

She sighed and tilted her head toward the shower head, her face being pelted with small droplets of water. The young woman she’d grudgingly allowed to stay with her was a complete enigma and Cat didn’t use that term lightly because it sounded so cliché. And yet it was fitting for Kara Danvers.

Not only was she a capable writer, she also had the body most girls at the Daily Planet would murder for. And god, what a body. Cat pressed the heels of her hands into her closed eyes and groaned quietly. How was she supposed to get rid of the image of Kara’s legs in those tiny shorts? One wouldn’t expect such muscles to be hidden underneath those housewife-y cardigans and dresses.

And yet Kara didn’t seem particularly aware of her own attractiveness. She wasn’t capitalizing on it like many others were and Cat realized that she simply didn’t understand Kara.

There was also the small matter that Cat had never actually found another woman quite so attractive. Sure, she could appreciate a woman with a sense of style, but rather as someone to either imitate or challenge, not someone to… do other things with.

Cat blindly reached for her shampoo and began to meticulously clean away every trace of that exhausting morning. Her fingers were buried in her soapy hair as she stopped to consider something.

There were no signs that Kara was in a relationship with anyone. She’d just arrived in the city and she seemed rather uninterested in dating. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t be receptive to any advances. Well, oblivious maybe, since she hadn’t even noticed all the stares at the park while they were out jogging.

Cat Grant was afraid of very few things, and because the thought of kissing Kara, or something more, excited and terrified her at the same time, she was extremely intrigued. Not many things, or people, could hold her interest for a long time, so perhaps it would be gratifying to see what happened if she decided to pursue this – whatever _it_ was.

A small shiver of anticipation ran down her spine. She rinsed out her hair and pushed the shower curtain aside to grab for a fluffy towel.

She would have to be very careful about this. If anything Kara resembled a scared deer in the headlights of a truck, and after her encounter with Tate she was probably even more skittish than before. Cat’s entire face darkened at the audacity of that bastard.

She looked into the fogged-up mirror and pursed her lips. “Get ready Kara Danvers, you’re in for a ride.”

Cat smirked and quickly got dressed, expecting Kara to be waiting somewhere in the apartment so they could head to work. Instead she found every room empty and a knock at guest room’s door confirmed Kara’s absence. She eventually spied a small piece of paper resting on the counter in the kitchen, telling her that something had come up and Kara would be in the office later.

Cat crumpled the piece of paper in her hand and sighed. This would be harder than she’d thought.

S-S-S

Kara landed gently on the roof of the Daily Planet and smiled at Clark who was already waiting for her. He looked good in his blue and red suit, strong and competent.

“Hey, you said you had something to tell me?”

Clark nodded and there was something youthful and giddy about his broad grin, with that lock falling into his eyes.

“I have something for you actually.”

He raised his hand and Kara saw that he was holding a very large and very old cell phone.

“Uhm… thanks?” Kara said as she took it and looked down at the black device.

“There’s someone who wants to talk to you.”

Kara frowned and held the cell phone to her ear. “Hello?”

“Kara, oh god, Kara, I’m so glad you’re okay.”

Kara’s eyes widened and she gasped. “Alex?”

S-S-S

Cat flipped through yet another woefully inadequate rendition of Lord Technology’s new toy that had been introduced the day before. The article in front of her had red marks on every page and Cat was tempted to write the damn thing herself, if only she could focus long enough for something like that.

Instead she was forced to leave it to her overpaid employees to use words they obviously didn’t understand.

She leaned back in her expensive office chair and twisted around so that she was facing the wall of televisions, her eyes skipping over several news reports without much interest. The city had been surprisingly quiet, almost as if accommodating Supergirl’s absence. Not that anyone knew their resident superhero was currently unavailable. Cat was doing her best using old footage to make it appear as if nothing was amiss. That’s why they kept some of Olson’s award-worthy photos on retainer after all.

A glance at her phone told her that it was almost time to call it a day and head home so she could have dinner with Carter. She was looking forward to being around him all weekend, it would take her mind off of more distressing matters. Carter deserved her undivided attention, and not even wayward assistant roaming through her past would change that.

Most of her employees had already left so it was blissfully quiet in her office as she got to her feet and began collecting her things.

She looked up sharply when there was a noise at the other end of the room. Maxwell Lord’s knuckles connected with the glass of her open office door as he sauntered toward her, a small smile on his lips.

Cat had never liked the way he smiled. It was always controlled, calculated as if he understood the need for this particular facial expression but couldn’t possibly fathom what emotions it was supposed to convey.

Her shoulders immediately tensed and she stepped around her desk to meet Lord in the middle of the office between her couches.

“I don’t think I saw your name on my appointment list this morning Maxwell.”

“Cat,” Lord drawled, “always a pleasure.”

“I’m sure it is, but I doubt you’re here to enjoy my riveting company. Or have you become so bored with your little toys that you have to seek me out in my office after hours?”

Lord didn’t even react outwardly to Cat’s obvious snark. Instead he simply tilted his head as if studying a science experiment. “Can’t I just visit an old friend I haven’t seen for a while?”

Cat sighed and placed her hands on her hips. “I’ve asked you politely, now I’m asking bluntly, what do you want Max?”

“You have interesting definition of polite,” Lord replied and moved his hand that he had been keeping at his side and slightly behind his body for the entire conversation. Cat now noticed that he was actually holding something wrapped up in expensive-looking paper with swirling designs.

 “Right to the point then. I just thought I’d stop by and see how your pet superhero is doing, you know, since we haven’t heard from the city’s favorite girl in blue and red for a few days. I hope everything’s alright.”

Cat pursed her lips thoughtfully. It was always a game with Maxwell Lord – keeping your cards close to your chest and never letting your opponent see that you were about to fold.

“Your concern is heartwarming, but completely unwarranted. I would be the first to know about any problems, and I would certainly be reporting on them.”

“Of course,” Lord replied with a quiet laugh.

He finally extended his arm to hold the object in his hand between them. “I suppose I shouldn’t have bothered you, I know you’re a busy woman, but I do have something for you, a gift of sorts, so that we might have more enlightening conversations in the future.”

Cat inhaled a quiet breath through her nose and stepped toward Lord to accept the small object from his palm. It was heavier than its size would suggest and she looked at Lord through her lashes.

“One might think you were trying to bribe me.”

“Everyone knows that Cat Grant cannot be bought,” Lord replied, “please just take it as a token of my affection.”

Cat barely suppressed the snort that wanted to make it out of the back of her throat. “Well, thank you Max, that is lovely of you.”

She raised the object in her hand for emphasis and Lord nodded with his hands folded behind his back. “Goodnight Cat.”

He turned on his heel and Cat watched him leave her office, strolling leisurely toward the elevators on the left. She narrowed her eyes and waited until she could hear the doors of the elevator open and close.

She would have to speak with security, this was completely unacceptable.

Her eyes fell on the wrapped object she was still holding. She gingerly began peeling back the corners of the paper until she revealed a small statue that seemed to be made of some kind of crystal.

Upon further inspection the statue depicted Supergirl in her iconic position, one arm stretched in front of her while her cape billowed behind her in an invisible breeze. It was rather beautifully crafted and Cat stared at the almost translucent crystal with its swirling green, red and orange colors. She’d never seen anything quite like it.

She shook her head with a sigh and placed the statue onto the small coffee table in the middle of her office. On Monday she would have someone take it to a lab to test it for radiation or something equally harmful. She didn’t trust Maxwell Lord any further than she could throw him, which meant, well, not at all.

Right now Cat simply wanted to go home to her family, take a nice hot bath and settle with Carter to watch a movie together after dinner.

She grabbed her purse and jacket and strode out of her office, her eyes only briefly lingering on the empty desk that stood right outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick note: the song I referred to in this chapter is 'Home Again' interpreted by Vonda Shepard, who I also had in mind when mentioning the singer at the piano.


	4. To my future lover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's been a delay in updates because my life became super busy these last two weeks, but I also had some good times ~ finally saw 'Wicked' on Broadway, which was simply amazing and I just can't stop talking about it (obviously). 
> 
> anyways, here's the next chapter, there will be one more after this and then I'm continuing with a sequel, sort of in episodic form like the show does, rather than making this installment longer. thanks for sticking with the story.

“Someone looks happy,” Cat drawled, leaning with her hip against Kara’s desk, arms crossed in front of her chest.

Kara looked up and smiled brightly. “Actually, I just talked to my sister on the phone.”

Cat waited for a few beats and then flicked her wrist in a ‘that’s all?’ motion. “If I’d known you’d get so excited about it I’d have let you call her from the office much sooner.”

Kara’s face turned to the shy little closed-mouthed smile Cat had observed a few times and she came to realize that it wasn’t her typical friendly face. It seemed almost as if Kara had different smiles for various occasions, and yes Cat could hear in her head how sappy that sounded.

“Thanks,” Kara said quietly.

“How about lunch today?” Cat asked and she almost smirked at the confused little frown that now crossed Kara’s features.

“You… want to have lunch, like, together?”

“Yes, that’s what I was trying to imply,” Cat answered and uncrossed her arms, “since you’ve been working with me more than with anyone at the office, not to mention live in my guest room, I think we should get to know each other a bit better.”

“Oh okay,” Kara answered and glanced at the wall with large clocks displaying different time zones on the far side of the room.

“Great, I’ll meet you in the lobby at noon,” Cat said and with one last smile in Kara’s direction she made her way back to her own desk.

She couldn’t directly see Kara from her spot because Kara’s desk was slightly off to the side so that it was closer to Tate’s office than the main room. Not that she needed the distraction, but she’d vowed to keep an eye on Kara, just in case Tate decided to launch another approach.

She sighed and turned back to her computer screen, the small letters staring back at her, waiting to be edited.

Despite the fact that her day seemed to drag on between making phone calls and ensuring that the next paper would have all of its respective columns filled, she found herself looking forward to a relaxing lunch with some decent conversation and rather pleasant company.

She was in the lobby at noon on the dot and Kara was already waiting for her with a small wave of her hand. Cat truly had never met a person who could be described as simply ‘adorable’. Most women and men weren’t really that likeable despite the front they put on, like Betsy who seemed to be emanating sunshine from every single orifice, but Cat simply couldn’t stand them.

But Kara was different, there was some kind of inherent goodness in her, something Cat could easily tell even after having known her for mere days. It almost awakened an instinct in her to shield Kara from all the evil in this world that would surely crush this ridiculous notion of finding good in everyone. Almost.

She found herself smiling much easier in Kara’s presence and she grabbed the other woman’s arm to link it with hers as she led them through the lobby. Kara fell into step beside her but kept her eyes straight ahead.

“What are you in the mood for?” Cat asked and Kara briefly faltered before resuming their walk.

“Potstickers?” Kara answered quietly, almost as if afraid that her answer would not be well-received.

Cat nodded and smirked. “Oh yes, I know just the place.”

Luckily Metropolis was a city where one could find all kinds of cuisine on every corner, and after college and working at the Daily Planet she’d had most of the good restaurants figured out and could confidently recommend something for almost every taste.

And it was definitely worth it because Kara wiggled happily in her seat at the sight of an entire plate filled with potstickers. She was even more excited about the food than when they’d seen that singer at the bar.

Cat could barely contain her smirk as Kara quite literally began digging into the food, only to realize that they hadn’t spoken a single word since the potstickers had arrived. She slowly lowered her fork with an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, but these are really good.”

“No need to apologize, I’m glad you like them. This is one of my favorite places in Metropolis, but I can show you other great restaurants if you’re interested.”

Kara nodded enthusiastically. It seemed like Cat had found a great way to not only make Kara happy but also to keep spending time with her. Who would’ve thought that the woman with a body like a star athlete could pack away so much food?

They spent their entire lunch at the restaurant, chatting, and to Cat’s surprise Kara even ordered a second serving. The conversation was just as stimulating as Cat had anticipated, not only because Kara was obviously intelligent, but also because she seemed to be genuinely interested in what Cat had to say. And even though she felt like Kara was always holding something back, choosing her words carefully from time to time, she couldn’t find it in her to complain. They all had their secrets.

Their lunch break was over sooner than Cat would’ve preferred, but maybe she could convince Kara to also have dinner together later that night.

They returned to the offices and parted with quick smiles, right before Cat was summoned into Tate’s office. No one liked going in there, because it either meant getting fired, getting hit on, or being saddled with an assignment nobody else wanted.

Cat was pretty sure it was the latter because she’d unceremoniously interrupted Tate’s advances toward Kara the previous night.

Sure enough, mere minutes later she stormed out of his office, her hand already curled around the doorknob as she turned to look over her shoulder. “You know that I cannot possibly cover all of these things at the same time, I might be great at what I do, but I’m no magician.”

“Then take one of the assistants or something,” Tate answered from behind his desk, “but get it done Cat, and don’t mess it up.”

She narrowed her eyes and only managed to not bare her teeth at the man because she slammed the door shut, ridding her of the sight of his sardonic smile.

Cat balled her hands into fists and reached up to press her knuckles against her temples where a headache was starting to form. That asshole.

She quickly looked around and only found a few eyes on her as most of the other people were either too busy or too scared to pay attention to what had just happened. Cat unclenched her hands and shook them out, straightening her shoulders in the process. She jutted her chin forward and strode through the room and back to her desk, where a tall glass of water and two small white pills on a napkin were waiting for her. She looked around and found Kara standing at the elevators with her arms full of folders and papers. She smiled and nodded towards Cat’s desk.

Cat knew that some very soft expression must’ve crossed her face because Lois Lane had actually stopped what she was doing and stared at Cat before following her gaze to a still smiling Kara. Once Kara realized that they were being watched she quickly scurried into the elevator as the doors opened.

She was now scowling as Lois raised a suggestive eyebrow in her direction. Cat rolled her eyes and sat at her desk with a huff. She couldn’t quite believe that she’d just been part of a three-way conversation without words, but she knew that wouldn’t be the end of it, at least not for Lois Lane. Cat had been teasing her about her obvious affection for ‘wonder boy’ and now she finally had some ammunition to return the favor.

The pills, probably aspirin, were quickly swallowed and she raised the glass to her lips, only briefly considering the fact that she simply trusted Kara not to poison her with some kind of unknown medication. Not to mention that Kara had somehow known that she was about to succumb to a giant headache.

Good god, Kara was going to drive her crazy.

S-S-S

There was no way around the fact that Cat could simply not split herself in two, so to complete the assignment Tate had her forced her into and to write a convincing article, she needed help.

After briefly scanning the office with a critical eye and going through her mental list of competent assistants and co-workers, she came to the conclusion that there was only one person in this entire building who she trusted enough to not only help her with this but also not use the information that would inevitably be revealed against her.

But this person was also someone she desperately wanted to keep away from the world Cat was about to enter. Not to mention that this would throw a wrench into her budding plans regarding Kara.

She took a deep breath and rose to her feet, light steps carrying over to the desk in the corner. Kara was sitting down and looked up, once again welcoming her with a smile. And truth be told, it was a sight Cat could get used to.

“Thank you for… you know, earlier,” Cat said and Kara shrugged.

“No problem.”

“I assume you could hear what was going on from out here?”

Kara ducked her head. “Most of it, yes.”

Cat raised her hand and tilted her head while she brushed her fingertips across her brow. “I know we’ve only met a few days ago, and I probably didn’t give you a very pleasant first impression, but I am going to do something I haven’t done in a very long time.”

Kara’s eyes widened a little and she seemed curious and apprehensive at the same time as she nodded slowly for Cat to continue.

“I’m going to ask for your help, Kara. I need you to assist me with an article that will need somewhat special attention. You will get full credit for it, of course, and I will owe you a favor.”

Kara exhaled a small breath and she stood slowly. “Are you sure I’d be best person for this? I mean, I’m flattered but I just got here and I haven’t really… done anything like this before.”

“I’m going to be honest, you’re the only person for this. As much as people might seem friendly with each other here, they’re all out for blood, everyone wants someone else’s job, and if I do not succeed and get this article out there, it will be my career on the line. Tate has fired people for much less. However, to do this I need help and I cannot ask anyone else, otherwise they would be coming for my job because they would find out things I’d prefer to remain private.”

Kara now looked completely confused and Cat found even that endearing.

“I will explain tonight, okay?”

“Okay.”

Cat nodded and moved away to return to her own desk when Kara softly called her name. A tiny shiver ran from between her shoulder blades to the small of her back and Cat turned back around.

“Yes,” Kara said and Cat raised her eyebrows.

“Yes what?”

“Yes, I will help you.”

Cat bit her lower lip and hesitated in place for a few seconds, torn between rushing over to Kara to pull her into an entirely inappropriate embrace, and staying rooted to the spot. In the end she simply inclined her head.

“I appreciate it, really, I do.”

S-S-S

Cat sat down with a wine glass in her hand. She tucked her feet up and under her and Kara slowly lowered herself to the couch where she assumed a similar position so that they were facing each other.

The wine glass was already half-empty and Cat seemed a little more relaxed than when they’d left work.

Kara never expected that it would feel so right and comfortable to be working alongside Cat and to spend the evening together in a relaxed atmosphere. And yet here she was, sharing a couch with Cat and waiting for her to talk about something that was obviously difficult for her. Still Cat trusted her enough to ask for her help and while it was Kara’s job to assist Cat Grant, Queen of all Media, day in and day out, this time it was personal, intimate even.

She’d pretty much discarded her reservations concerning the timeline, not because she was reckless but because Cat needed her and she would do whatever she could to help.

Cat took another sip of her wine before putting the glass down and focusing on Kara.

“Alright so, I suppose I should finally tell you what is going on and why I need your… help,” Cat began and sighed, “Tate, that son of a bitch, sent me to cover an event at the Metropolis gallery, a fundraiser of sorts which takes place every year, and everyone who thinks they are someone will be there.”

“That doesn’t sound awful so far,” Kara commented, “I mean aside from being incredibly boring.”

Cat smirked and rested her elbow against the back of the couch so that she could cradle her cheek in her palm. “No, I suppose it doesn’t. It actually gets a bit more interesting. Press isn’t welcome at this event, or I should say only very few journalists get access to keep it as exclusive as possible.”

Kara leaned forward slightly. “And how are you expected to get in?”

Cat closed her eyes briefly and took in a deep breath, looking almost pained. “Well, the truth is Tate picked me for the job because –“

A single thought popped into Kara’a head. _Because of her mother_.

“– because of my mother.”

“Oh,” Kara replied quietly. Now it actually began to make sense. The reason why Cat couldn’t ask anyone else for help was because she would not only have to reveal the fact that her mother had gotten her into the event, but she would also be exposed to her mother’s underhanded insults for an entire evening.

“I know this may sound like I’m being ridiculous, but you haven’t met my mother Kara. Asking her for a favor is like asking for a prison sentence, and Tate knows exactly what kind of a position he has put me in.”

Kara’s eyes widened slightly and she fell back against the couch. “It’s because of me, isn’t it? Because you stood up to him, for me, and now he is trying to get revenge by giving you this assignment.”

Cat immediately shook her head and moved forward so that she could lightly rest her hand against Kara’s jean-clad thigh. She made sure to catch Kara’s eyes before speaking. “This is not your fault, okay? Tate doesn’t like women who can string more than two coherent sentences together without complimenting him. This was a long way coming and given more time perhaps he’d have come up with something even worse.”

The hand on her thigh was warm, even through her clothes, but it was still a calming touch. It reminded her of the woman in the future who could set her at ease with a few choice words.

“Okay,” Kara replied and was rewarded with a genuine smile from Cat, “so, what can I do to help?”

S-S-S

Every time Kara told herself that it was creepy and inappropriate to listen to Cat sleep, she also couldn’t resist listening in for a few seconds, just to be sure, just in case.

So as she was awake in bed, the night before the fundraiser, Kara listened to Cat’s even breaths as she was staring at the black cell phone in her hand, her fingers thoughtfully tracing the buttons.

She had a connection to home, to the DEO and most importantly to Alex. They were doing their best to get her back but knowing that she wasn’t alone in this anymore made all the difference. She could hold out for a while, could be strong for a bit longer.

Somehow Clark and his scientist friends had managed to establish a direct link to the future. He was being incredibly secretive about the whole thing and even refused to tell her or the DEO how he had managed it or who was helping him.

It was mind-boggling, really, if she allowed herself to dwell on it for too long, but she’d seen so many things that were thought to be impossible even on Krypton that there weren’t many things left that could shock her anymore.

Either way, she now knew that she hadn’t messed up her timeline and that everything was happening just as it was supposed to. It gave her the freedom to focus on her current predicament, namely the fact that she had somehow befriended the woman who would become her boss in the future and whose mother she was about to meet once again… and for the first time.

Kara’s fingers hovered over the buttons on the cell phone before she sighed and tucked it into a corner of her nightstand.

She hadn’t told Alex about Cat yet and she wasn’t sure she should. No one knew, not even Clark, and Cat wouldn’t remember any of it twenty-five years later. But perhaps she could do something good while she was here, maybe she was always meant to support Cat in this and make sure she was able to pursue her journalistic career. What good assistant wouldn’t?

S-S-S

Kara wasn’t a stranger to evening gowns, not since she’d started working at CatCo, but picking something appropriate for an event that was not only going to be uncomfortable but also took place in a pretty unfamiliar time period was absolutely terrifying.

So Kara did the only thing she could think of. She took Clark shopping.

Despite the fact that she must’ve used up quite a chunk of his next paycheck, he was doing a good job at trying to help her find the right dress. Usually Kara had a very specific preference for clothes, not necessarily because she enjoyed wearing them, but mostly because they promised anonymity. There were many things she craved, but attention from strangers wasn’t one of them.

Also, she promised Clark that she would pay him back… in the future.

Surprisingly, it didn’t take them too long to find the perfect fit. Kara could tell that she’d picked the right dress when she stepped out of the changing rooms and Clark greeted her with his boyish smile and two thumbs in the air.

She nodded happily and walked over to stand in front of the mirror. The dress was black but varied in shades from the top. The fitted bodice had broad horizontal stripes and see-through satin sleeves covered her shoulders and arms. It was elegant yet subtle.

Kara turned to Clark with a grin. “Now all I need are shoes.”

Clark’s entire face fell and Kara couldn’t help but laugh at his crestfallen expression. It seemed like he had quite a bit of a way to go until he would become the confident husband of Lois Lane.

She decided to spare Clark and find shoes on her own after she’d dropped her dress at Cat’s apartment.

They had taken the entire day off to prepare, so Kara wasn’t surprised to find Cat in the living room, shuffling through a stack of papers and taking notes with a pen while a pencil was tucked behind her ear.

She was unprepared for the image and froze in the door, garment bag in hand, just staring at Cat in her sweatpants sitting cross-legged on the couch and squinting at a piece of paper she was holding in her hand.

Cat eventually glanced up and leveled Kara with a questioning stare, jolting her back into motion.

“I found a dress for tonight,” Kara announced and held the garment bag up to eye-level.

Cat put the papers down and untucked her legs from underneath her, waving her hand in an impatient motion. “Let’s see it.”

Kara closed the door with a kick of her heel and moved over to the couch to free dress from its confines. Cat immediately nodded. “Good choice. Hair up or down?”

Tilting her head, Kara debated for a moment before answering. “Up.”

“Perfect.”

She smiled and ducked her head. “I just need to go buy shoes to match.”

Cat’s eyes immediately snapped to her feet. “I think I might have something.”

She rose from her perch on the couch and walked into her room, only to reemerge a minute later with a pair of black heels with gray details on them. She thrust the heels in Kara’s direction with a triumphant smile. “Try them on, but I’m sure they’ll fit.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem,” Cat waved her off, “let me just finish this and then we can go over our strategy one more time.”

Kara simply nodded and deposited the dress and heels into the room she currently occupied. Her eyes flickered over to the nightstand where the black cell phone was resting quietly. She shook her head briefly and headed for the kitchen instead.

Cat had been obsessing over their ‘strategy’ for half the night and this entire morning, so Kara was pretty sure she hadn’t taken the time to eat yet.

While she prepared an easy pasta dish with pesto she had just bought the other day, Cat shuffled into the kitchen with narrowed eyes.

Kara couldn’t help but smile at the expression on Cat’s face because she looked something between hungry and wary. “What?”

“You know you don’t have to cook for me right? I’m not going to… kick you out or anything.”

“I know, but I do enjoy it. And you took me to get potstickers for lunch, so it’s the least I can do,” Kara answered, but Cat was still observing her closely.

“What?” Kara asked again and Cat sighed as she sat at the breakfast bar, resting her chin in her palm.

“You’re almost too good to be true. You cook, you pick up after yourself, you’re actually helpful and you don’t seem to have some hidden agenda. So, what’s your secret?”

Kara flushed and turned back to the stove to toss the pasta with pesto. “Secret? I don’t have a secret, why would I have secret?”

She looked over her shoulder to find Cat with her lips pursed.

“I used the word secret too much, right?”

Cat nodded slowly. “Yep.”

They stared at each other for a few beats until Cat laughed and Kara joined in. She quietly marveled at the feeling of comfort settling in her chest. Something she had only ever experienced with the Danvers and her friends at CatCo.

She couldn’t help the tiny part of her that began to mourn the friendship she could’ve had with this extraordinary woman. But it hadn’t been meant to happen like this. She would still have Cat Grant in her life, only not in the way she perhaps wanted.

Kara served the pasta and sat down across from Cat, unceremoniously digging into the food. Cat took it a bit slower as she began to eat, a thoughtful look on her face.

“We’re on the guest list now, so once we show up at the gallery we get direct access to the guests. Most of the people there will ignore us, but I am still going to get those interviews, if I have to personally superglue those snobs to a chair,” Cat said with a small furrow between her brows.

Kara grinned, her cheeks slightly bunched with pasta.

Cat smirked at her and continued more quietly. “You have to keep an eye on all of our targets, because once they’ve figured out that I’m asking unpleasant questions, they’re going to try and scatter. Fast and efficient Kara, we have to beat all those other journalists who have done this dozens of times, one mistake in our timing and we’re done.”

Kara nodded, schooling her face into a serious expression while still chewing.

Cat raised one finger. “And most importantly –“

“– keep your mother as far away as possible,” Kara interrupted.

Cat exhaled a quiet sigh. “Yes, far, far away. Carry her out of the room if you have to.”

“Will do,” Kara replied with a decisive nod. Little did Cat know that Kara actually could do just that, probably even without anyone noticing.

“I would like to know something,” Kara began, waiting for Cat swallow her next bite, “and please don’t take this the wrong way, but you must have grown up with these people, I mean, your mother is obviously a part of the social circle, and yet you are not…like that.”

“Is there a question in there somewhere?” Cat asked slowly before sighing again, “You’re lucky I haven’t eaten all day and I’m too hungry to abandon this pasta. So yes, I grew up just like any other spoiled rich girl, but no, I do not rely on my mother or her money. Why? Because I’m making my own way.”

Kara smiled. “I thought so.”

Cat regarded her with a long scrutinizing stare, but Kara was too happy to finally be able to put some of the puzzle pieces together to care. She’d always known Cat wasn’t like those women at the fundraisers, despite the front she put on or the mask she chose to wear.

“I don’t know what it is about you Danvers, but I will figure you out eventually,” Cat said and pushed her empty plate aside, “not today though, I’m busy enough as it is.”

Cat picked up Kara’s plate and carried everything over to the dishwasher. “I’m going into the office for a few last preparations. The car will pick us up at five, so be ready by then.”

“Do you need me to go into the office with you?”

“No, I’ll be fine, but you should get some rest, tonight has the potential to become the most stressful evening of your life.”

Kara smiled and shook her head slowly. “I highly doubt that.”


	5. Overdue goodbye

Kara knew that if there was one quality besides loyalty that Cat valued above all else it was punctuality, so she was standing in the living room of Cat’s apartment at four-fifty on the dot, ready and prepped. She could hear Cat moving around in her room and took the time to make one last sweep, ensuring that they had everything they needed for the evening.

Satisfied that she was as prepared as she could be, Kara moved into the kitchen and stuffed some white chocolate macadamia cookies into her cheeks, because she was pretty sure that they would only serve small hors d’oeuvre at the party. She chewed quickly and hurried back into the living room when she heard Cat opening her door.

Kara stopped mid-step and stared. She’d seen Cat in quite a few evening dresses, but the sight was always a reason for her to pause and admire the woman who was and would become an important part of her life.

This time Cat was wearing a deep maroon dress that exposed her shoulders and arms and flowed freely down her body. The straps were held together at the nape of her neck and exposed a sliver of flesh in the center of Cat’s chest. Her hair was curled and resting lightly against her shoulders. In this moment she looked more like her future self than ever before.

Kara had been fairly occupied with her own scrutiny that she only realized Cat was doing some focused gazing of her own when neither of them had moved for almost a minute.

“You look great,” Kara said and Cat’s eyes snapped up to her face.

“So do you,” Cat replied, and Kara could detect that her voice had dropped an octave.

Kara reached up but dropped her hand again once she realized that she still wasn’t wearing any glasses. She had actually managed to break that habit in the last few days, but now that she was more or less exposing herself to a whole lot of people, she was starting to miss the comfort of her glasses again.

“I think we should go downstairs, the car is going to be here any minute,” Cat said with a gesture of her hand.

Kara nodded and grabbed the small purse she had also borrowed from Cat before leaving the apartment. They made their way down to the entrance while discussing every minute detail of the plan again, and Kara would happily keep talking through it as long as it helped Cat focus on something other than the fact that she was going to have to face her mother.

The car was waiting for them when they arrived outside and the ride to the fundraiser was spent in a similar fashion. Cat asking questions, Kara answering them quickly and adding her own thoughts on the matter.

They arrived at the gallery shortly after and despite the many reporters and photographers that had gathered in front of the venue, no one paid them much attention as they slipped past the entrance and into the building. Kara’s senses were alert so that she could prevent any pictures of her being taken. Whenever there was the sound of a camera clicking, she would just turn her head away or duck behind someone else.

After that it wasn’t difficult to get into the event, since Cat had made sure their names were on the guest list.

Usually Cat was the one making a grand entrance at CatCo parties while Kara hovered in the background, waiting for Cat to give her some instructions. This time they both made their way past the guests that had already arrived unnoticed and took up position on the first floor, allowing them to see all new arrivals filter through the main entrance.

Kara was having a much easier time making out their targets amongst the crowds beneath them. She lightly touched Cat’s elbow with her fingertips and nodded toward the direction of an elderly couple in the corner. Cat’s eyes followed and she set her jaw with a determined scowl.

“Ready?” Cat asked and Kara nodded, “alright, let’s go save my career.”

Kara gulped when they began moving again, Cat snatching a champagne flute from a nearby waiter on the way, until they were in the midst of the crowded main floor. Chatter rose all around them and the scent of expensive perfume hung in the air.

Kara’s eyes kept moving all throughout their little trek and she was actually using her enhanced hearing as well to stay on top of things. It made her realize that Cat would’ve never managed to do this on her own, not with so many people to keep an eye on.

Cat discreetly slipped a small recorder from her purse into her hand as they approached the elderly couple.  

“Mr. and Mrs. Fish, it’s wonderful to see you,” Cat began with a voice that sounded way too cheery to be anything but fake. Kara tuned out their conversation after that and stood slightly behind Cat so that she could see what was happening around them without looking like she was attempting to eavesdrop.

It took Cat less than ten minutes before the couple excused themselves and hurried toward one of the exits of the gallery, leaving Cat with a self-satisfied smirk.

Kara was already focused on their next target and she rested her hand at the small of Cat’s back without thought, guiding her in the right direction. Cat went willingly and soon enough they stood in front of a man, probably in his forties, who was appraising them with a smile. “John Cage, I haven’t seen you in a while,” Cat said, once again working her journalistic magic.

They were on a roll, so of course something had to go wrong. Kara was just directing Cat toward a woman who looked liked she was the type to never waste time with reporters, when Kara spotted Cat’s mother in the crowd, heading straight for them.

Cat seemed to notice her as well because her entire posture changed and her steps faltered briefly.

“I’ve got this,” Kara said quietly, “go on to Miss Woo and I will make sure to divert your mother so you can get away.”

Cat shot her a grateful smile that Kara returned with one of her own before she quite literally tossed herself into the way of Katherine Grant. She forced the brightest smile she could muster onto her face. “Mrs. Grant it’s so wonderful to see you. I have been meaning to speak with you all evening. Do you have a free minute? I have been admiring your work for so long and I was hoping I could speak to you personally about your inspirations.”

Kara wasn’t exactly sure what Cat’s mother was working on, but she had studied her biography often enough to know that the woman had always been involved in one project or another. Sure enough, she had captured Katherine Grant’s attention and was listening to the woman talk about her collaborations with famous writers for several minutes while she was also keeping tabs on Cat’s progress.

Cat had actually managed to get a few statements out of the prickly business woman named Ling Woo about her upcoming deal and Kara knew that was as good as gold for them. She cheered internally while politely nodding and pretending to listen to Katherine.

This was going better than expected. While Cat was moving on to the next person, Katherine got distracted by someone behind Kara and excused herself. Kara thanked the older woman profusely before slowly but surely making her way back to Cat’s side.

It was actually quite fascinating to watch Cat in her element like this. She was charming, intelligent, and she delivered the final questions with such precision that many of the people she was talking to didn’t even realize they were being interviewed until it was too late.

Cat shot her a look over her shoulder and mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ in Kara’s direction. This little distraction was all it took for Cat’s mother to suddenly appear beside them. Both of them froze at the voice. “There you are Kitty, I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

Cat visibly ground her jaw while Kara attempted to step between them, but Cat warned her off with a barely perceptibly shake of her head. Her eyes moved in the other direction and a tilt of her chin told Kara everything she needed to know.

The small recording device was slipped into her hand delicately as Kara passed Cat and her mother. She took one last glance at Cat’s stony features before following after the last person they had planned to interview.

Her stomach churned uncomfortably at the thought of having abandoned Cat with her mother, but if they wanted to make sure the plan would be completed, Kara had to do this one on her own.

She quickly tracked down their last target, a woman Cat had described as deceptively intelligent. In fact, Elaine Vassal was the wife of one of the richest brokers in Metropolis, but Cat had been certain that she had a hand in most of his business deals. Apparently they also had a fairly open marriage, so Kara was only mildly surprised when Elaine began to shamelessly flirt with her.

She wasn’t very good at these things, but this time her rather shy nature actually seemed to help as Elaine seemed to get more interested by the minute and answered all of Kara’s questions without much pretense.

When Kara declined yet another invitation for dinner, Elaine pursed her lips and sighed. “You really only came to get those answers out of me didn’t you?”

Kara opened her mouth to protest but Elaine’s raised eyebrow silenced the lie that had been on the tip of her tongue, instead she nodded sheepishly.

“What a pity, and here I’d thought the sooner we get this out of the way the sooner we can go back to my hotel room.”

“I’m sorry, I’m just not… interested in something like that at the moment,” Kara replied quickly. Not that the woman wasn’t attractive, she was quite the center of attention at the party, but Kara couldn’t find anything that would draw her to this woman beyond the physical appearance.

“It’s really a shame, but if you do change your mind, you know how to find me.” With that Elaine leaned toward Kara to lightly brush their cheeks together. Kara was briefly surrounded by a cloud of lavender scent before Elaine departed. She stared after the blonde woman for a few seconds before she spun around on her heels and hurried back to where she’d last seen Cat and her mother.

They were still having a conversation, or at least Cat was still listening while her mother talked, as Kara slowly approached them. She couldn’t help but overhear what Katherine was saying.

“Oh Kitty, when will you finally leave this laughable job? I have just spoken to Marcia Jones, and her son seems like he is finally ready to settle. You’d make such a pretty couple.”

“I happen to like my job, mother, and I’m not looking for a husband.”

Katherine slowly shook her head. “I thought you had finally grown out of this rebellious phase of yours. You will never amount to anything if you insist on being nothing but a glorified secretary.”

Cat was working her jaw so hard, Kara was afraid she would crack her teeth. She quickened her step until she stood right beside Cat. Katherine greeted her with a small smile when she seemed to remember Kara from their earlier conversation.

“Mrs. Grant,” Kara exclaimed, her voice sounding too high even to her own ears, “I just couldn’t help but come over when I saw you talking to Cat. I have been so lucky to make your daughter’s acquaintance,” Kara said, reaching out and clasping Cat’s arm for emphasis. “And oh I’m sure you’re so proud of Cat. I have read all of her articles, and her writing is simply impeccable, such an envious talent.”

Katherine seemed startled and her smile appeared more forced as her lips pressed together into a thin line. “Of course. Now if you will excuse me, I will speak with you later Kitty.”

Both of them watched Katherine Grant depart without a backwards glance and Cat released a shuddering sigh.

“You okay?” Kara asked quietly, still holding onto Cat’s arm with both hands.

“Yes, I’m fine. Did you get it?”

“We did it,” Kara replied, a little bit of excitement creeping into her voice.

“Then let’s get the hell out of here.”

Kara thought she was leading them back toward the entrance, but instead of stepping out onto the street, she had managed to back them into a crowded corner that only left one escape route, the balcony.

The nightly air was chilly so no other guests had found their way onto the large balcony that overlooked the street below them. Kara turned back around to apologize but Cat had already moved past her to the stone railing. She shivered lightly but still rested her hands against the cold concrete, leaning forward with a deep sigh.

Kara slowly approached her. “I’m… sorry I couldn’t keep your mother away, I tried, but it just wasn’t…”

She trailed off slowly when Cat turned to her. There was something in her eyes, and the expression on her face stopped Kara mid-sentence. She stared with her lips parting slightly. Cat looked absolutely breathtaking in her dress, skin glistening softly in the dim light from the lights behind and above them. She appeared so soft that Kara’s fingers itched to touch skin.

There were words stuck in her throat, the sudden realization that Kara wanted _more_ from Cat clawing its way out of her mouth. Her heart began to pound and she took a small breath, her head starting to spin slightly.

Before she could even utter as single sound, Cat had swiftly crossed the distance between them and both her hands reached up to cradle Kara’s cheeks, thumbs stroking her jaw softly. The touch was even softer than Kara could’ve possibly imagined, it sent tingles from the base of her spine all the way to her head.

Cat slowly leaned in and Kara watched with fascination, almost as if she wasn’t actually the one experiencing this moment. Cat gave her enough time to move away, to run, to jump up into the darkened sky and never return. All those scenarios flittered through her mind, but in the end she stood rooted to the spot and let soft lips brush against her own, finally reuniting body and mind with a single jolt.

It was electrifying, gentle, and so incredibly soft. Cat’s hands and lips were warm, a pleasant contrast to the cool air around them. Her distinct scent surrounded Kara and her eyes fluttered shut as her senses were completely overtaken by Cat.

They moved together in perfect sync. Cat’s lips slipped across her own, gently taking Kara’s bottom lip and sucking. It sent shivers down her spine and made her toes curl in her heels. It was beyond anything she could’ve imaged and for blissful moments her mind was blank, simply overcome by feeling.

But then reality came crashing back in. Noises from inside the party, the cold nipping at Cat’s skin and making it pebble beneath Kara’s fingertips.

Her eyes opened and she broke the kiss, not slowly and carefully, but abruptly so that her lips immediately missed the warm contact. She took several steps back, her heart hammering in her chest.

“Cat… I… I’m sorry, I…”

She was stuttering, trying to find the right words, trying to say something that she knew deep down she didn’t want to say.

Cat’s face was vulnerable for seconds, her eyes showing disappointment, hurt, but then the corners of her mouth lifted upward, mimicking a smile. “No, I should be sorry. I misinterpreted and overstepped the line.”

“No, no you didn’t, it’s not you,” Kara said but winced at the way it sounded.

“It won’t happen again, please just forget about it,” Cat answered and wrapped her arms around her stomach. “I think we should go.”

With that she turned away from Kara and headed back toward the balcony doors which, once opened, let all the noise from inside spill out into the night.

Kara took a shuddering breath and something crunched beneath her hand. She looked down to find her fingers digging into the railing, leaving deep indentations in solid stone.

S-S-S

Cat paced up and down in her room, her hands bunched into fists at her sides. She was such an idiot. Kissing Kara had been a mistake, it hadn’t felt like one, but looking back now she couldn’t help but think she’d made a complete fool of herself. For some reason she’d convinced herself that there was something between them, like she could almost sense that Kara wanted her, but oh no, she’d been so wrong.

She stopped moving for a moment and raked both hands through her hair.

The car ride from the fundraiser to the apartment had been silent and uncomfortable. And she’d pretty much fled into the safety of her room once they’d walked through the door. She just couldn’t stand another second of Kara looking like she was the one who had done something wrong. No, it wasn’t her fault, Cat simply shouldn’t have taken that step.

Now she would have to figure out a way to live and work with Kara without making it awkward.

She could pretend it never happened. Or she could apologize and talk about it. Maybe she would start avoiding Kara, which was easier said than done since they were colleagues and roommates.

But that was only temporary. Kara would soon find her own place and it would reduce the time they had to spend together.

Cat nodded to herself. This issue would resolve itself and all she was going to do was sit back and watch it happen. It’s not like she didn’t have other things to worry about. Now that the fundraiser had turned out to be quite the success, she had an article to write that was going to catapult her out from under Tate and toward a bright future in journalism.

S-S-S

Kara rested a hand over her eyes and sat hunched forward on her bed, cell phone pressed tightly against her ear.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Alex asked, voice brimming with worry even through a connection from the future.

Kara sighed quietly. “Yes, I’m fine, I’m good. Is it really ready? Can I come back?”

“We’re making some final preparations right now, so you should meet with Clark and go to the target location. From there we should be able to find your temporal signature. That way we can pull you back… or you know forward.”

Kara nodded, even though Alex couldn’t see her. “Okay, I’ll be there.”

“See you soon, sis.”

“See you soon.”

The line disconnected and Kara stared at the cell phone in her hand, only slightly cracked at the edges. She raised her hand and ghosted her fingertips across her lips.

S-S-S

The next morning Cat awoke to a scenario she couldn’t have possibly anticipated while lying awake in bed for hours the night before. She had wondered how her life would continue, now that she might finally move forward in her career, now that she’d realized that she couldn’t always get what she wanted, no matter how hard she tried.

The note with its perfectly legible script was everything that was left of Kara Danvers. The guest room was completely empty, no clothes, not even a forgotten hair tie or toothbrush. It was as if Kara had disappeared from her life just as quickly and thoroughly as she had entered it.

It wasn’t a great surprise to find that Kara had also quit her job at the Daily Planet, but something still died and shriveled inside of Cat. She was known for being ruthless when it came to destroying competition, but never had she driven someone away by simply kissing them. She wasn’t hurt, not in the sense that she couldn’t go on or would wallow in misery, but Kara’s sudden departure left a bitter taste in her mouth she would wake up with even months later.

But her life continued. She never attempted to find out what had happened to Kara Danvers, and eventually the young woman she had known for such a brief time faded to the recesses of her mind, becoming one face among many.

Lovers came and went, marriages, and all of them seemed to lack something, a certain electrifying quality, a current that would push Cat back toward them even if she decided to turn away for a while.

S-S-S

Cat sat behind her desk and stared at the small Supergirl statue with a frown. So far she hadn’t noticed any negative effects, and the thing had somehow grown on her as it kept changing its colors throughout the day when she sun would hit it from various angles in its spot on the coffee table.

Her scowl only deepened the longer she kept looking at it though. She wasn’t sure how much longer she would be able to pretend that Supergirl was still doing her heroic routine. People were starting to get suspicious, so perhaps it was time to start crafting a statement. To make sure everyone knew what a flight risk Supergirl _really_ was.

She tapped the bottom of her pen against the desk with a bit more force than necessary.

“Uh…Miss Grant?”

Cat didn’t even bother looking up. “What is it Flynn?” she bit out.

Perhaps she had been a bit less approachable than usual these last few days, but that didn’t mean her employees could waste her time by not speaking.

She heard shuffling as the IT hobbit came closer, causing her to raise her eyes with a furrowed brow. Usually the little computer whiz stayed as far away from her as possible, he would probably prefer to shout through the entire office if Cat would allow such a thing.

He moved hesitantly until he was standing in front of her desk and Cat watched his fidgety approach with mild interest.

She had to actually strain to hear his quiet words.

“It’s… uhm… it’s Supergirl, I just wanted to… uh… she’s back. She’s back,” he repeated with a nod.

Cat pursed her lips and flicked her wrist in a dismissive gesture. “Fine.”

He stared at her for several seconds and Cat scowled again. “Get back to work.”

That put him into motion and he quickly rushed out of the office and to his desk.

Cat pressed her lips together and worked her jaw silently.

_Fine._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as you may have noticed already, this is the final chapter - but it is of course not the end. the next installment will follow soon and then our favorite ladies can start working through all the trouble that has been caused in the past. and not to forget the little thing Lord left for Cat...
> 
> bookmark this series, if you're so inclined, to get all the future updates. thank you for all of the support, comments and kudos, I really do appreciate it.


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